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w 

A COMPLETE HAEMONY 



DANIEL AND THE APOCALYPSE. 



Br EEV. J. LITCH 



"^O;/ 



"And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true. And 
tlie Lord (Jod of the holy prophets sent his an^^el to show unto his 
servants the things which must be done with celerity." 



PHILADELPHIA: 

CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, 
1873. 






6^ 



I 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, 

By JOSIAH LITCH, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PREFACE. 



In no age of the world has the public mind been 
more universally interested in regard to impending 
events than at the present time. The prophetic 
Scriptures have received a larger share of attention 
than in any former period, and still the interest does 
not subside. The strangeness of the times — the uni- 
versal spread of the gospel, the fall of the Roman 
government, the convulsions in the Roman church, 
the awaking of the nations of the east to the impor- 
tance of western civilization; the terrible famines, 
floods, fires, earthquakes^ cyclones, tidal waves, burn- 
ing stars, spots on the sun's disk ; the spread of in- 
fidelity, in its various forms and degrees, and many 
other strange phenomena — but adds fuel to the flame 
and enhances the interest. 

The Protestant commentators of the past, in their 
interpretations of Daniel and John, have treated the 
prophetic periods as symbols, a day the representa- 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

tive of a year of solar time ; and, applying the visions 
of those two prophets very largely to the papacy, the 
periods were made mostly to refer to its times. The 
1260 days, or years, as they were called, were vari- 
ously begun; but the greater number of expositors 
dated them in A. D. 606, when to the pope was given 
the title of universal bishop, and thus ended them in 
A. D. 1866, at which time they expected the over- 
throw of Romanism and the introduction of the millen- 
nium. That date having passed by, and the papacy 
still existing in force, no millennium having come, 
and other estimates of times having also failed, the 
Christian world is afloat on a dangerous coast without 
her reckoning; and anxiously is the question asked, 
" Watchman, what of the night? " 

The object of this work is to answer, partially at 
least, the question. We do upt assume to be able to 
determine either the date of the beginning or of the 
ending of the prophetic periods ; but we do endeavor 
to lay before our readers the outline of future events 
as laid down in the prophetic word, so that the atten- 
tive student of that word will, by .observing passing 
events, be able to discern the signs of his own times. 

The work is not written in the interest of any de- 



PREFACE. 5 

nomination, clique, or party, but for the interest of the 
^whole Christian church. 

The plan of interpretation is an entirely indepen- 
dent one, not attempting to follow any beaten track ; 
although, on many points, others have held and taught 
the same views. So far as the general outhnes of the 
historical prophecies of Daniel are concerned, we are 
in perfect accord with all the standard commentators, 
such as Bishop Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. A. 
Clarke, Scott, Rollin in his " Ancient History,'^ and a 
multitude of others. But in reference to the ^Hen 
horns,'' and the '^ little horn '' of the seventh and 
eighth chapters, we entirely dissent from their views. 
In our interpretation of the eleventh of Daniel, we 
know of no expositor from whom we differ on the 
first twelve verses. From that point we disagree 
with ail with whose views we have ever met. In the 
interpretation of the Apocalypse we have pursued, in 
many respects, nearly an unbeaten track ; although we 
have found many excellent and valuable suggestions 
in various works. In this connection we refer with 
pleasure especially to Dr. Siess' eloquent and instruc- 
tive "Lectures on the Apocalypse," published by Smith 
& English, Philadelphia ; and to the ^' Critical Com- 



b PREFACE. 

mentatory" on Daniel and Revelation, by Rev. Mr. 
Faucett, a minister of the church of England ; also to 
Benjamin Wills Newton^s " Thoughts on the Apoca- 
lypse/' from which we have derived many important 
suggestions. The one question which has been kept 
before us in this work has been, What is the plain 
grammatical and obvious import of the text or pas- 
sage under consideration ? How will this view agree 
with the history of the past, and will it produce a har- 
mony throughout the prophetic Scriptures? We do 
not depend on the opinions of men, but for the cor- 
rectness of our interpretations appeal to the harmony 
of the entire word of God which our plan affords. 
We only ask acceptance of these views as they shall 
be found to have produced that result. We discard 
for ourselves all theories and systems which produce 
conflict of one scripture or historical fact with an- 
other, believing that a true system will produce har- 
mony, and that no other will do so. " Information is 
the groundwork of judgment Read and then judge. 
That the visions of Daniel and John are full of sym- 
bolical representations is conceded by all expositors. 
How, then, are they to be interpreted ? The laws by 
which we have been governed are these : — • 



PREFACE. 7 

1. The most important symbols are divinely inter- 
preted, as when Daniel said to the king of Babylon, 
^^ Thou art this head of gold ; '^ or as when Christ 
said to John (Rev. i. 20), "The seven stars are the 
angels of the seven churches ; and the seven candle- 
sticks are the seven churches." This is an end of 
controversy. All symbols thus rendered by divine 
authority need no further interpretation. 

2. Most symbols not so interpreted represent their 
own species ; as in the seventh of Daniel, the 
" Ancient of Days '' and " Son of Man " represent 
God the. Father and Christ the Son, and need no in- 
terpretation. And in all cases where it is not con- 
trary to the nature of things, and no interpretation is 
given to a symbol, it is to be understood as represent- 
ing its own species, and nothing else. 

3. Where a symbol is contrary to nature, and yet 
no interpretation is given, its meaning must be un- 
folded by reference to parallel passages ; as, for in- 
stance, the woman of Rev. xii. 

In thQ interpretation of the eleventh of Daniel, we 
have been compelled to depart from the beaten track 
of all ages, from verse 13 to 30 especially. If any- 
thing has been regarded as fixed by nearly all exposi- 



8 PREFACE. 

tors in all ages^ it was that Antiochus the Great was 
the subject of the prophecy from verse 10 to 19 ; that 
his son Seleucus was the subject of verse 20, and his 
younger son, Antiochus Epiphanes, of verse 21 to 30. 
To reject this is to revolutionize all former exposi- 
tions. But we have shown that history and that 
theory are discordant, and therefore it must be re- 
jected, and a new one sought. That new one, we be- 
\ lieve, we have found and given in its place, and have 
\ shown its correctness by its entire harmony with the 
history of the past and predictions of the future. 
Whoever shall undertake to overthrow or refute our 
positions, must meet us at that point ; for it is the 
pivot on which the whole system turns. 
I If correct there, the old theory is destroyed and the 
/new is established, and prophecy is simplified and 
made plain. If wrong there, the whole theory falls 
to the ground ; for, aside from these two, there is no 
other which can fill the interregnum. 

There is one which obtains to a limited extent, but 

/is entirely wrong. It is, 1. That Julius Csesar was 

/ the "king of the north'' of verse 19; 2. That Augus- 

[ tus Csesar was the " raiser of taxes '' of verse 20 ; 

\ 3. That Tiberius Caesar was the " vile person '' of 



PREFACE. 9 

verse 21. To this it is replied^ 1. That Julius Caesar 
never was " king of the north ; '^ neither did he start ' 
for home and not reach there. He did reach home in ' 
triumph. 2. The raiser of taxes was to be destroyed 
in a ^^ few days ; ^^ but Augustus Cgesar reigned forty- 1 
four years. 3. Of the vile person it is said, '^Theyi 
shall not give him the honor of the kingdom ; '' but 
Augustus did give it to Tiberius. So that the whole 
theory is utterly baseless in fact, and falls to they 
ground. 1 

We invite the most careful criticism of the passage, 
being fully persuaded that the more it is considered 
and discussed, the more firmly it will be established. 
But while we are persuaded that we present a more 
perfect harmony than has before been given, we are 
very far from supposing that we have exhausted the 
subject ; but we lay the result of more than forty 
years^ study before our readers, as suggestive of 
thought^ and to excite further research in the same 
direction. 

The prevailing theory of a double fulfillment of 
prophecy we totally discard. A prediction, if once 
fully accomplished, needs no second fulfillment. Of 
it we may say, " Thus it is written," and ^^ Thus it has 



10 PEEFACE. 

been fulfilled.'^ But if it has only some features of 
seeming fulfillment, it is no fulfillment at all, and we 
mistake if we call it a fulfillment. As an illustration 
we refer to the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, 
which is usually regarded as a double prophecy, re- 
ferring first to the destruction of Jerusalem by the 
Romans, and secondly to the second coming of 
Christ, when it shall have a more perfect accom- 
plishment. If it was fulfilled at the destruction of 
Jerusalem, why look for another accomplishment ? 
If it was not fulfilled at that time, it is not a pre- 
diction of that event. 

Another prophecy (Dan. xi. 21-45) is frequently 
treated in the same manner, as relating, first, to 
Antiochus Epiphanes ; and then, finding it impossible 
to make the facts of his history correspond with the 
predictions concerning this character, it is referred to 
a future Antichrist for a more perfect fulfillment. If 
he filled the terms of the prophecy, why refer it to a 
future character? If he did not fulfill it, why refer 
it to him at all? Why not, as we do in this work? 
refer the whole prophecy to that future Antichrist? 

We freely admit that there was a striking parallel, 
to a certain extent, between Antiochus Epiphanes, 



PREFACE. 11 

and the " vile person/' but not so full or perfect as 
to amount to a fulfillment. Hence it should never be 
so termed ; but it may be called a partial parallel, 
and a partial illustration of the prediction. Antiochus 
Epiphanes was ^^ king of the north ; '' so will be the 
subject of the prophecy. Antioclius invaded Egypt ; 
so will this person do. Antiochus took Jerusalem, 
took away the sacrifices of the temple, and set up an 
idol as an object of worship, and polluted the temple 
of God ; so also will the " vile person '^ do in his day. 
But the manner of their coming to the throne will 
differ entirely; and there are a variety of incidents 
related in the latter part of the chapter which the 
favorers of the Antiochian theory have never been 
able to prove to have been fulfilled by him. And 
even Dr. Cowles finds it much easier to pass 
over in silence the most of those predictions than to 
undertake to show their fulfillment by Antiochus ; 
while the great body of the advocates of that theory 
frankly confess their inability to show their accom- 
plishment in his history, and refer it to the future 
to complete the testimony. Aside from these, there 
is another difficulty, even more insuperable than the 
others. It is this : it is impossible to show from his- 



12 PREFACE. 

tory the fulfillment of the prophetic times, in his 
career, as those times will be fulfilled by the vile per- 
son in his days. It will be seen in our remarks con- 
nected with the periods in Daniel, that we have no 
confidence whatever in the ^^year day theory/' as it 
is called, and regard all prophetic periods as meaning 
literally just what the words express. The reference 
to the forty days of the spies of Israel in spying out 
the land and the appointment of one year of wander- 
ing in the wilderness for each day (Numb. xiv. 34) 
does not establish the rule. This was a specific 
arrangement which the Lord adopted for that occa- 
sion, and has no reference to anything else. It afi^ords 
no rule whatever for the interpretation of prophetic 
times in general. The prediction of the time, ^' forty 
years,"' is positive in verse 33, and then, in verse 34, 
the Lord tells them why he fixed that time: a year 
of wandering for a day of unbelief. 

The same is true concerning Ezek. iv. 4-6, where 
the prophet was directed to lie three hundred and 
ninety days upon his left side to bear the iniquity of 
the house of Israel that number of years, and forty 
days on his right side to bear the iniquity of- the 
house of Judah forty years. The days in each case 



PREFACE. 13 

were typical only by a special divine appointment, 
and constituted no rule for general application to 
prophetic periods. We therefore utterly repudiate 
the principle, and adopt the literal sense of the 
periods. 

Our views of the judgment will perhaps appear 
new to many, and, unless a few words of explanation 
are here given, may appear somewhat confused. We 
believe the judgment to be twofold, the judicial and 
the ' executive. The former is the work of God the 
Father, and the latter the work of the Son. When 
the judgment scene is presented in vision to Daniel, 
chapter vii., it is God the Father who sits upon the 
throne, and before whom the books are opened. Be- 
fore him the Son of man is brought to receive his 
kingdom. So also in I^v. xx., when the white throne 
appears, and the books are opened, it is the Father 
who presides. 

But it is the prerogative of the Son ^' to execute 
judgment, because he is the Son of man.'^ (John v. 
27.) So likewise Enoch, the seventh from Adam proph- 
esied, '^ Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand 
of his saints, to execute judgment upon alL'^ (Jude.) 

The resurrection is an executive proceeding; for 



14 PREFACE. 

the good are to come forth to the resurrection of life, 
and the wicked to the resurrection of damnation. 
Therefore the trial or judicial work must precede the 
executive, and hence also the advent of Christ, who 
comes to execute judgment. The judicial proceedings 
will be held in heaven, and be executed on earth. 

It is the dead who live in spirit, as well as the living 
in the flesh, who will be put on trial when the books 
are opened before God. (I Pet. iv. 5, 6.) "Who shall 
give account to him who is ready to judge the quick 
and the dead. For for this cause the gospel was 
preached to them that are dead, that they might be 
judged according to, or in the same manner as, men 
in the flesh; but live in the manner of God in 
spirit.'^ 

It has been our object to make plain to the compre- 
hension of the reader the import of each passage of 
Scripture considered, with little attempt at elabora- 
tion. • 

If this object has been attained, we are content to 
leave our work to make its way among those sincere- 
ly desiring to know and be sanctified through the 
truth. 

To those who may think we make the times in 



PREFACE. 15 

which we live too definite, and bring the end too 
near, we can only say that we leave the times just 
where God in his word leaves them, and no words or 
constructions of ours can defer the appointed end. 
It will come in God^s own time. 

To those who may complain that we are putting too 
many events between us and the coming of the 
Master, we reply that the same complaint may be 
made against Jesus and his apostles. They certainly 
placed many things between them and the Second 
Advent, and yet exhorted us to constant watchfulness 
lest it come upon us unawares. We know of no 
better position to occupy than that which they 
taught. No opinions or teachings of ours will either 
hasten or retard the event. Hence our single object 
has been, to learn the mind of the Spirit, by hear- 
ing what He saith to the churches in the prophetic 
word. 

If it is true, rfs it certainly is, that the Roman 
government, ^^ the fourth kingdom on earth,'^ as 
presented in DaniePs vision of chapter seven, has 
ceased to exist, and the fragmentary state of the old 
empire is where the power now lies, then it follows 
that the end is upon us, and no words of ours can 



16 PREFACE. 

make it otherwise. And to tliis result all the foretold 
signs given in the word of God seem with unerring 
aim to point. 

With fervent prayer that our work may be made a 
blessings we now cast it as " bread upon the waters/'^ 
trusting to the promise of gathering the result ^^ after 
many days.'' 

J. LiTCH. 
127 North Eleventh Street, PhUadelphia, 

September 1, 1872. 



CONTENTS 



DANIEL. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

II. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream 19 

VII. Daniel's Vision. The Four Beasts 25 

VIII. The Ram and Goat 37 

IX. The Seventy Weeks 44 

XI. The Kings of the North and South 48 

XII. Concluding Instructions 69 

THE APOCALYPSE. 

I. Introduction, and Vision of Christ 77 

II. Letters to the Pastors of the Churches of Ephesus, 

Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira 93 

III. Letters to the Pastors of the Churches of Sardis, 

Philadelphia, and Laodicea iii 

IV. The Organization of the Judgment Court in Heaven. 121 
V, Finding, Producing, Electing, and Investing the 

Lamb as Executive of the Judgments of the Court. 126 

VI. Opening of the First Six Seals and their Results. . 135 

VII. The Sealed and Martyrs 144 

VIII. Seventh Seal and First Four Trumpets 151 

IX. The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets 161 

X. The Little Book eaten by the Seer 173 

XI. The Two Witnesses, and Judgment of the Dead. 

The Seventh Trumpet 176 

2 17 



18 CONTENTS. 

XII. The Woman, Man Child, and Devil 189 

XIII. The Beast and Two-horned Beast 199 

XJV. The Hundred and Fortj-four Thousand of First 
Fruits in Heaven. The Angel of Judgment. 
Babylon's Fall. Warring against the Beast. 

Reaping the Harvest and Vintage 209 

XV. The Victors over the Beast, and Preparation for the 

Vials 222 

XVI. The Seven Last Plagues 225 

XVII. Babylon's Judgment, and v^-ho she is 234 

XVIII. The Sinking of Babylon 245 

XIX. Marriage of the Lamb, and Great Battle 251 

XX. Millennium and Final Judgment 260 

XXI. New Earth and New Jerusalem. ....... 272 

XXII. Tree and River of Life, and Conclusion. .... 283 



The Twenty-Fourth of Matthew 293 



NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DEEAM. 



DANIEL, CHAPTER 11. 

In the consideration of the Apocalypse of St. John, 
we are necessarily compelled to make frequent refer- 
ence to the prophecy of Daniel, as the two books are 
so intimately connected that it is impossible to fully 
understand the one without reference to the other. 
The one is the sealed book, the other the unsealed; 
the one, the first step taken in setting forth the 
course of time, the rise and fall of earth's empires, 
down to the day of judgment, and the introduction of 
God^s everlasting kingdom, yet leaving many mys- 
teries connected with that era unsolved, ready for a 
revelation or unsealing, in the " time of the end ; ^' 
while the other, l^ie Apocalypse, affords a reveJation 
of those mysteries relating to the great day of the 
Lord, detailing more minutely the events briefly 
described in Daniel, the order of their occurrence, 
and their relation one to the other. 

It is clear, then, that in order to present a full 
view of the prophetic word, it is ijeedful to give a 
summary of the visions of Daniel, setting forth as 

19 



20 NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM. 

clearly, and yet as briefly as raay.be, the teachings 
of the book. In doing so \ve shall pass over its 
purely historical portions with slight reference, and 
take into consideration only those parts in which the 
prophet has given, as it were, a ^^ bird's-eye view " of 
the history of the world from the days of Nebuchad- 
nezzar down to the incoming of earth's future and 
everlasting King. 

The Metallic Image. 

In the second chapter of Daniel we have an ac- 
count of a dream by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baby- 
lon, which, he having forgotten, was related and in- 
terpreted to him by Daniel, a Hebrew captive in his 
court. 

The dream related to a great image, whose head 
was of gold ; his breast and arms of silver ; his belly 
and thighs of brass ; his legs of iron ; his feet and toeg 
of iron and clay intermingled, yet unadherent. 

This image came to a violent end : while yet stand- 
ing upon its feet, a stone cut from a mountain without 
hands — that is, by divine power — smote it on its 
feet and toes first, and brake them in pieces. " Then 
was the iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold broken in 
pieces together, and became like the chaff of the 
summer's threshing-floor, and the wind carried them 
away, and no place was found for them." Thus, with 
violence, it will be remarked, was the image smitten, 



Nebuchadnezzar's dream. 21 

and disappeared, not, as it is frequently said, " by the 
rolling of the stone aggregating to itself the elements 
of the image/^ but by their crushing and dissipation^ 
'^ so that no place was found for them.'' ^^ And (then) 
the stone which smote the image became a great 
mountain, and filled the whole earth.'' 

The Interpretation. 

The prophet, in addressing the king, then said, — 

1. ^^ Thou, king, art a king of kings; the God 
of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, and power, and 
strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children 
of men dwell, the beasts of the field, or the fowls of 
heaven, he hath given into thy hand, and hath made 
thee ruler over them all. Thou oM this head of gold. 

2. '^ After thee shall arise another kingdom, inferior 
to thee." This, all commentators in the light of in- 
controvertible history, are agreed, was the 3IedO' 
Persian^ kingdom, an account of whose accession to 
the doininion is given by Daniel himself, in the fifth 
chapter of the book. 

3. ^^ And another third kingdom of brass, which 
shall bear rule over all the earth." This, it is equally 
certain, as admitted by all, was the Grecian kingdom 
established by Alexander the Great, who conquered 
and subdued the Medo-Persian, and on its ruins 
erected his own throne. 

4. *^ The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; 



22 Nebuchadnezzar's dream. 

forasmucli as iron breaketh in pieces and bruiseth 
all these, it shall break in pieces and bruise. '^ How 
completely these peculiarities, as here described, are 
fulfilled in the Roman kingdom, all who are at all 
familiar with its history will at once perceive and 
bear witness. Its strength, its fierceness, its adaman- 
tine hardness, and the terrible power of the blows it 
struck at opposing nations, well fit it for the descrip- 
tive term, the ^^ Iron kingdom.'^ 

5. " And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, 
part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom 
shall be divided ; but there shall be in it the strength 
of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed 
with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were 
part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be 
partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou 
sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle 
themselves with the seed of men ; but they shall not 
cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with 
clay.'' This was the Roman imperial dominion, at 
first, under the reign of the emperors, a unit^ but in 
the fourth century divided into two parts, Eastern 
and Western Rome (the capital of the eastern division 
being at Constantinople, and that of the western at 
Rome), and afterwards divided into the kingdoms of 
Europe. Besides this, there seems to be implied in 
the mixture of iron and clay in the feet and toes, a 
degeneracy of that absolute imperial power granted 



Nebuchadnezzar's dream. 23 

first to Babylon, then to Medo-Persia, then to Grecia, 
and lastly to Rome (in each instance, as students of 
history will observe, a gradual lessening of that abso- 
lute imperialism characterizing the first dominion 
granted to Nebuchadnezzar), until this degeneracy 
results in a mixture of democracy and monarchy,— 
in other words, in limited monarchies, where the 
power of the king is restrained by legislative bodies 
elected by the people, as witnessed to day in Europe. 

6. The toes are understood to represent the same 
kingdoms as the horns of the beast, in Dan. vii. and 
Rev. xiii. ; and that they are the last phase of the 
fourth kingdom, and will exist until God's everlasting 
kingdom shall come to destroy them. The central 
Roman government having now disappeared, the 
decem regal state is the next in order, and the whole 
Roman empire, from the Euphrates to the Atlantic^ 
will be divided into ten kingdoms, represented by the 
ten toes. The period in which we live is the forma- 
tive period of those kingdoms. Their development is 
the next prophetic event. 

The Kingdom of God. 

7. Said the prophet, ^* In the days of these kings 
the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall 
never be destroyed ; it shall not be left to other 
people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all 
these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. ^^ 



24 NEBUCHADKEZZAR^S DREAM. 

This kingdom is the one of which Jesus Christ 
shall be the supreme and everlasting head ; when, as 
we read in the seventy-second Psalm, " His dominion 
shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the 
ends of the earth.'' His kingdom will be as real, 
material, and personal, as that of either of the four 
kingdoms which have preceded it, lacking, of course, 
the corruptibility and shame of earth's present fallen 
condition ; for all things shall be made new, and the 
groans of earth and the sighs of the saints shall be 
exchanged for the songs of a re-created and glorious 
heavens and earth, wherein the righteous shall dwell. 
He is to come in person from heaven to accomplish 
this ; and this kingdom which he comes to establish 
will be shared alike by his saints, the living and the 
dead ; for ^^ the dead shall then be raised incorrup- 
tible, and we shall be changed." Thas, in that im- 
mortal state and new earth, Christ with his saints 
'^ shall reign forever and ever.'' We now pass from 
this brief consideration of this remarkable revelation 
of earth's history to the seventh chapter of Daniel, a 
chapter setting forth the same events, revealed more 
fully, and under different symbols. 



DANIEL'S VISION 



CHAPTER VIL 

The prophet having been inspired to interpret 
Nebuchadnezzar's dream, was afterwards permitted 
to see visions of his own, which, as we have ah'eady 
intimated, covered the same ground, but entered 
more into detail as to the closing portions of the 
great drama. 

The Four Beasts. 

The vision represented four great beasts. The first 
that he saw, coming up from the great sea, '^ was like 
a lion,'' and had wings ; and he ^' beheld until the 
wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the 
earth, and a man's heart was given to it." 

The second beast ^^ was like a bear, and it raised 
itself up on one side, and' it had three ribs in the 
mouth of it between the teeth of it ; and they said 
thus unto it : Arise, devour much flesh." 

The third beast was " like a leopard, which had 
upon the back of it four wings of a fowl ; and the 

25 



26 Daniel's vision. 

beast had also four heads; and dominion was given 
to it.*' 

The fourth beast was unhke all others, " dreadful 
and terrible and strong exceedingly ; and it had great 
iron teeth " *^ and nails of brass ; " ^' it devoured and 
brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the 
feet of it ; and it had ten horns. I considered the 
horns, and behold, there came up among them another 
little horn, before whom there were three of the first 
horns plucked up by the roots : and behold, in this 
horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth 
speaking great things.'' This wonderful vision which 
had been granted to the prophet was of such a charac- 
ter as served to excite great anxiety in his mind as to 
its meaning ; and we read, "I came near unto one of 
them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. 
So he told me, and made me to know the interpretation 
of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are 
four kings which shall arise out of the earth.'' These 
words seemed to satisfy his mind, as they were un- 
doubtedly connected with the interpretation of the 
dream of Nebuchadnezzar, — in which he saw four 
great kingdoms of earth symibolized by the gold, sil- 
ver, brass, and iron ; and so he understood the first 
beast to symbolize Babylon, the second Medo-Persia, 
the third Grecia. The mystery of the fourth beast, 
however, with its many peculiarities, he could or did 
not understand ; and so he said, '^ I would know the 



CHAPTER VII. 27 

tnith of the fourth beast, and of the ten horns that 
were in his head, and of the other which came up, 
and before whom three fell ; even of that horn which 
had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, 
whose look was more stout than his fellows.'^ In the 
explanation which follows, that the fourth beast shall 
be ^^the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be 
diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole 
earth, and shall tread it down and break it in pieces,^' 
we have a symbol representing the entire Roman gov- 
ernment, not ow\y pagan ^ but also ^a/>aZ, covering the 
time from the commencement of Roman ascendency in 
the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, and fall of Macedon, 
down to the downfall of the Pope of Rome from his 
temporal sovereignty in 1870. The ten horns are ten 
kings yet to come, as already intimated in the expla- 
nation of the second chapter. 

The Little Horn. 

This little horn, concerning whom Daniel's in- 
structor said, " And another shall arise after them 
(the ten horns), and he shall be diverse from the first, 
and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak 
great words against the Most High, and shall wear 
out the saints of the Most High, and think to change 
times and laws," is a new feature of the four kingdoms, 
not introduced in the dream of the king, but kept in 
view in all subsequent visions of Daniel and John ; 



^^ DANIEL'S VISION. 

and it is indeed the most important agent of all the 
series The others seem only to have been intro- 
duced m order to giye his genealogy and times. He 
IS the imehorn of chapter viii. He is the covenant 
conjlrmer of Dan ix. 27. He is the vile person of xi. 
jl-45 He IS the one who sets the abomination of 
desolation m the holy place of Matt. xxiv. 15 He is 
the man of sin of 2 Thess. ii. He is the Antichrist 
ot 1 John u. and iv. He is the crowned conqueror of 
Kev. VI. 2. He is the beast of Rev. xiii. and xvii. 

The Time op the Horn's Reign. 
This occurs during the session of the judgment. 
Ihis IS rendered evident by verses 9-11 of this chap- 
ter:_" I beheld till. the thrones were cast down, and the 
Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as 
snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his 
throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as 
burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came- forth 
from be ore him : thousand thousands ministered unto 
him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before 
liim: the judgment was set, and the books were 
opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the 
great words which the horn spake: I beheld even 
till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed 
and given to the burning flame." The casting down 
of thrones of verse 9 is not in the sense of over- 
throwing the kingdoms, but in that of the setting or 



CHAPTER VII. 29 

putting in position the thrones of the court-room, for 
occupancy of the judges ; and on which the Ancient 
OF DAYS takes his seat, surrounded with his associates, 
the twenty-four elders and four living ones, as de- 
scribed in the fourth chapter of Revelation. 

Being thus enthroned for judgment, the books, by 
the testimony of wliich the world is to be judged, are 
opened before the court. 

^^ I beheld then because of the great words which 
the horn spake : ^' clearly, then, his great words are 
during this session of the judgment. AH his persecu- 
tions of the saints are during this session, as w^e read, 
"I beheld and the same horn made w^ar with the saints, 
and prevailed against them until the Ancient of days 
came, and judgment was given to the saints of the 
Most High. And the time came that the saints pos- 
sessed the kingdom.'^ (v. 21, 22.) 

The sitting of the Ancient of days in judgment, as 
described in verse 9, and the coming of the Ancient of 
days of verse 22, are two entirely distinct events. 
The judgment session is to be in heaven, invisible to 
us on earth ; while the coming of the Arrcient of days 
will be visible to all the race. The former scene is 
described in Rev., chapters iv. and v., where God, as 
the Great Judge, is represented as taking his seat, 
with the elders and living creatures surrounding his 
throne as associates in the judgment, and pronouncing 
the Lamb worthy to execute the judgnients of the 



30 DANIEL'S VISION. 

court upon the earth. The latter scene, in Rev. vi. 
12-17, where amid mighty convulsions of nature, and 
the rolling together of the heavens like a scroll, the 
wonderful vision of the divine court appears to the 
consternation and terror of the wicked inhabitants of 
the earth. This scene being identical with ^^ the sign 
of the Son of Man in heaven," as predicted by Christ in 
Matt. xxiv. 30. This vision of the Ancient of days KmiYs 
the period of the persecution of the saints of the Most 
High by the little horn, although not the time of his 
reign — the entire time of his war against the saints 
covering a period of three years and a half, or, in other 
words, twelve hundred and ninety literal days. 

The Parting asunder op the Times. 

Esdras, in the Apocrypha, tells us that he inquired 
of the angel who instructed him, " What shall be the 
parting asunder of the times?" or what shall be the 
end of this world, and the beginning of that which is to 
come ? He was told that there would be none ; that 
they would la2J over. It Avill be at the close of this 
dispensation as it was at its commencement. There is 
no one point at which it can be said, ^^Here the 
Mosaic dispensation closed and the Christian began; '' 
for there was a gradual closing of the one and in- 
troduction of the other. Christ was born, he was 
baptized, he was anointed ^N\i\\ the Holy Ghost, he 
began his ministry. At none of tliese points coald it 



CHAPTER VII. 31 

be said, the old is closed, and the new dispensation 
begun ; and so it may be said of a variety of other 
points in its progress. So will it be at the close of 
this dispensation and the introduction of the eternal 
state. The judgment will sit in heaven, and this 
world, to use the illustration, be put in chancery for 
the adjudication of all its interests, national, social, and 
personal. At a certain point after this session be- 
gins, as already remarked, the court will be exhibited 
mid heaven to all the inhabitants of earth. There will 
be developed various judgments on the earth. Thus 
the time loill come '' that judgment must begin at the 
house of God.'^ Christians will then be tried, purified, 
and made white; as though during the years of wait- 
ing they had contracted many of the impurities of 
earth — the weakness and impatience of an imperfect 
faith, and the slothfulness of servants long disap- 
pointed in waiting the return of an absent Lord, and 
needing a purification, an enlivening, a quickening, 
ere they can be ready to meet him in peace, al- 
tliough it must be in contrition. So they are tried 
and purified, in the words of the apostle, in hope of a 
salvation ** wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for 
a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through 
manifold temptations : that the trial of your faith, be- 
ing much more precious than gold that perisheth, 
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto 
praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus 



32 Daniel's vision. 

Christ." (1 Peter i. 6,7.) After this will follow judg- 
ments on the wicked, and the blood of the saints will 
be avenged. Nations will be judged and punished. 

Under the seventh trumpet will come ^Hhe time of 
the dead that they should be judged.'' (Rev. xi. 18.) 
That accomplished, the resurrection will follow, and 
the reward be given to all of God's servants. The 
scene introduced in Dan. vii. 9, 10, is the beginning 
of this process, and the generation then living will 
witness the grand and yet awful climax — the com- 
ing of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven. 

The Organization of the Ten Kingdoms. 

As will have been remarked in our consideration of 
Dan. ii.j- the various parts of the image succeeded 
each other. So also when the same governments 
were symbolized by the four beasts, the one followed 
the other. Then why not the toes follow the feet of 
. the image ? Why not the ten horns follow the reign 
of the beast? The fourth beast of Dan. vii. had ten 
horns. Why not look for them to exist and reign 
after the beast has lost its power? In the case of 
the third beast it will be observed that the beast had 
\\\i\ reign first, then upon his downfall came the four 
divisions symbolized by the four heads. Now, if the 
fourth beast represented the Roman empire, it has 
disappeared, and only the fragmentary parts remain. 
Why not look for the development of the ten to reign 



CHAPTER VII. 33 

contemporaneously? Not one of the ten kings who 
came into power in the fifth and six centuries remains 
in existence. But the ten Icings are to exist in the 
end, and make war on the Lamb, and be overcome by 
him. (Rev. xvii. 14.) Then they certainly are to be 
looked for in the future. But how long will be their 
formative period? It may not be possible to fully de- 
termine that point. But when four horns were to 
spring up in the place of the one great horn of the 
goat, of Daniel, eighth chapter, it was a period in the 
neighborhood of twenty years from the death of Alex- 
ander, before the four kingdoms were fully estab- 
lished. Why, then, should it not be a period of years 
before the ten kings shall be organized and the other 
little horn come up among them ? 

But, in any case, all these points are under the di- 
rection of a divine Providence, and he will accomplish 
them in their proper time, and any hurry of spirit on 
our part, in a desire for the epiphany of our Lord, can. 
make no change in our Father^s plans, which are 
wisely ordered, and will be consummated with infinite 
skill. Our wisdom, therefore, is to watch and pray 
always, and be ready for all events which may come 
to pass, escape the evils of the closing times, and be 
accounted worthy to stand before the Son of man. 
3 



34 Daniel's vision. 

The Character of the Little Horn. 

Does the little horn of the fourth beast (Dan. 
vii.) represent the pope or the papacy? This is 
a question on which there is a great deal depending ; 
a question which is answered in the affirmative by 
the larger mass of Bible expositors. But we answer, 
it does not. 

1. The little horn is to come up after and among 
the ten. But the ten kings have not yet come up, 
and therefore the papacy which came into power 
more than a thousand years ago, cannot meet the re- 
quirements of the prophecy. 

2. The times of the little horn are to be three and 
a half years. But the times of the papacy have been 
more than a thousand years. 

But do not the time, times, and the dividing of 
a time mean 1260 years, each day of the period repre- 
senting a year? There is no shadow of ground for 
supposing they do, or that the word day, in prophecy, 
means a year. The first occurrence of the phrase 
"' times '' as a prophetic period is in the fourth of 
Daniel, the seven times, during which Nebuchadnezzar 
was driven from among men. That period was ful- 
filled in seven literal years ; and there is no intimation 
in connection with the occurrence of the word time, 
or times, that it is used in any different sense from 
that. No period expressed in times, months, or days. 



CHAPTER VTL 35 

can be shown to have had its fulfillment on that prin- 
ciple. The seventy weeks of Dan. ix. is a period 
by itself, consisting of a week of years, for there was 
such a period among the Jews, as literally as a week 
of days, and therefore can constitute no rule for any 
other designation of time. A time, therefore, means a 
year, and no more ; a month signifies a month, and no 
more; nor does a day signify anything more than 
just what it expresses — a period of twenty-four hours. 
^ The adoption of the year-day theory ^ as it is called, 
has been the great stumbling-block in the way of a 
correct interpretation of prophecy for these hundreds 
of years, and should be utterly repudiated by all 
lovers of the simple truth. The time, times, and the 
dividing of a time has never been fulfilled in papal 
history ; and hence w^e look for another. There 
have been many periods, in the history of the papacy, 
set for their ending by various commentators. Thus 
Bengel and John Wesley have advanced labored 
arguments to show that the period in question would 
reach its end in the year of our Lord 1836 — an opin- 
ion which the lapse of time has shown to be erroneous. 
The plan of several able students of prophecy in 
Europe for beginning them in A. D. 533, and ending 
in 1793, also failed. For according to Dan. vii. the 
little horn is to make war with the saints and prevail 
against them during that period, that is, during the 
1260 days. But said Daniel, ^^ I beheld, and the same 



36 Daniel's vision. 

horn made war on the saints, and prevailed against 
them, until the Ancient of days came/' The Ancient 
of days did not come either in 1793 or in 1798 (the 
period at which the Adventists held that the days 
ended), and he has not yet come ; therefore the 
period has not j^et ended. There is no date for 
the 1260 years of papal rule which will carry 
them into the future, except 756, when Pepin 
made the pope a temporal sovereign; and that 
would carry us to A. D. 2015 for their ending, thaF^is, 
to the end of the temporal power of the pope. But 
the pope lost that temporal power in September, 1870, 
and now possesses no power by which he can make 
war on the saints ; and yet the Ancient of days has not 
come, nor do the saints possess the kingdom. 

The year-day theory, as it is called, on which alone 
the theory that the pope or papacy is the little horn 
of Dan. vii. rests, falls to the ground, and some other 
application must be found. For if the times of Dan. vii. 
do not fit the pope, taken either as literal years or as 
symbolical periods, meaning 1260 years (and we have 
shown that they do not), then he is not that little horn. 

All interpretations of symbols are given in literal 
language, not in language more mysterious than the 
symbol itself Now, be it marked, the periods of Dan. 
vii. and viii. are not symbols seen by the prophet, 
but interpretations of symbols ; and therefore their 
statements are to be literally understood. Daniel 



CHAPTER VIII. 37 

inquired of the explaining angel the meaning of the 
fourth beast. He said, " The fourth kingdom upon 
the earth.^' What is the meaning of ^^ the ten horns 
upon his head ^' ? ^' Ten kings that shall arise/^ said 
the angel. '' The other which came up, before whom 
three fell ? ^^ " Another, w^hich shall rise up after them 
(the ten horns), and shall wear out the saints, and think 
to change times and laws, and they shall be given 
into his hand until a time, times, and the dividing of a 
time. But the judgment shall have sat [see Septua- 
gint]j and they shall take away his dominion,^' &c. It 
will thus be seen that the time is not a symbol, but 
the plain statement of a literal period — three and a 
half years, or twelve hundred and sixty days. 

So, also, the twenty-three hundred days of Dan. 
viii. 14 are given in explanation of the previous sym- 
bols, and, as an explanation, can not be symbolical. 

The three periods of Dan. xii. are not symbols, but 
plain literal statements of times, and we have no au- 
thority for making them anything else. Let us now 
leave this portion of the book, and proceed to examine 

CHAPTER Vni. 

The Ram and the Goat. 

The vision of Dan. viii. being given under the 
reign of the last Chaldean king, it did not, like the 
former two, embrace that kingdom, but commenced 



38 Daniel's vision. 

with that which was to follow. The Lord made up for 
the deficiency in symbolical representation by sending 
Gabriel to state in plain terms the import of the sym- 
bols^ so that nothing was left to conjecture. The 
symbols were, — 

1. A powerful ram w^ith two horns. 

2. A rough he-goat with a great horn between his 
eyes, coming with a bound from the west against the 
ram, w^hom he overcame. 

3. His great horn was broken, and four notable ones 
took its place, toward the four winds of heaven. 

4. Oat of one of these four came a little horn, which 
waxed exceeding great, toward the south, the east, 
and the pleasant land. 

The Doings of this Little Horn. 

1. He waxed great to the host of heaven, i. e., the 
people of God. 

2. It cast down some of the host and of the stars 
(i. e., ministers of God) to the ground, and stamped 
upon them. 

3. He magnified himself even to the prince of the 
host — the Messiah. 

4. By him was the daily sacrifice taken away. 

5. '^ The place of his sanctuary was cast down.'' 

6. " A host," or an army " was given him against the 
daily sacrifice " by the instrumentality of which he 
accomplishes its suppression. 



CHAPTER vin. 39 

7. '^ It cast down the truth to the ground, and it 
practiced and prospered/' 

From this it will be seen that this little horn is the 
most important character of the whole vision. And 
it is to introduce him, and state his times and work, 
for which the other parts of the vision w^ere given. 
Thus we have light upon light thrown upon our path- 
way. First, simply the general outlines of earth's 
history from the days of Nebuchadnezzar to the intro- 
duction of the everlasting kingdom of the Son of God; 
secondly, in the seventh chapter the same general 
coujse of events, with added revelations as to the 
scenes of the latter days, revealing now, for the first 
time, the rise and work of the little horn, together 
with his destruction by the brightness of Christ's 
coming ; and thirdly, the present chapter, revealing 
the division of the then future empire of the fourth 
beast of Dan. vii. from which the little horn was to 
arise, viz., one of the four divisions of the Alexandrian 
kingdom; adding thereto such descriptions of his 
power, times and work, as alEFord to las material help 
in our investigation of his career. 

The Period of his Work. 

This period does not embrace anything but the little 
horn and his doings. It does not go back to the do- 
ings of the ram, the goat, or their horns: nothing but 
the little horn is covered by it. 



40 DANIEL'S VISION. 

The time is drawn out by a question asked by one 
holy one of another holy one — '^ how long the vis- 
ion.'' 

1. "Concerning the daily sacrifice?" for it is 
by this little horn the daily sacrifice is to be taken 
away, and its sanctuary cast down. 

2. Concerning " the transgression of desolation ; " 
for it is this little horn who is to set up the abomina- 
tion of desolation in place of the daily sacrifice, 

3. " To give both the sanctuary and the host to be 
trodden under foot; "for the little horn is to tread 
these under foot. All this implies the restoration of 
the Jews under Antichrist ; the restoration of the 
daily temple service in Jerusalem ; its being taken 
away by Antichrist, and the abomination (his image) 
set up by him in the most holy place. (Chap. xi. 37.) 

The Angel's Answer. 

" And he said unto me, Unto twenty-three hundred 
days: then shall the sanctuary [that is, the temple 
polluted by Antichrist] be cleansed." 

These twenty-three hundred days have been long 
regarded as years, and have been dated back to the 
days of the Medo-Persian kings ; mostly to the times 
of Artaxerxes Longiamanus. But if they date back at 
all, they cover the entire vision of the ram and his 
two horns, Media and Persia, The subject, it is 
clear, will not admit of anything else. " How long the 



CHAPTER VIII. 41 

vision?" If accepted in this absolute form, it goes 
back to Media, B. C. 538, at least, for its date. And 
if so, and they are twenty -three hundred years, they 
must have ended in A. D. 1762 ; which they did not. 
But if the question, ^^ How long shall be the vision ? is 
to be modified, it must be done as our translators 
have done it: -'concerning the daily sacrifice, ^^ &c. 
This at once restricts the period to the times and do- 
ings of the little horn. 

The question now confronts us. Is the government 
of pagan Home the little horn? We reply with- 
out hesitation, it is not ; for that government existed 
four hundred years before Alexander the Great, and 
therefore could not come out of one of the divisions of 
his kingdom. It conquered each of those divisions, 
and therefore could not come out of either. 

But it may be still inquired. Is not the papacy the 
little horn ? As before, the answer is, no. For although 
the papacy was the successor of pagan Rome, the 
conqueror of each of those four divisions of Alexan- 
der's empire, yet it did not come out of either of the four 
Grecian kingdoms, but grew up in the west, where 
Alexander never reigned, and in parts which never 
belonged to his dominion. Besides, if papal Rome 
were the little horn, and the times twenty-three hun- 
dred years, as the papacy did not come into power be- 
fore the times of Justinian, Emperor of Constantinople, 
say A. D. 533, it would carry ns to A. D. 2833 for their 



42 Daniel's vision. 

end; hut the papal government ended in A, D. 1870. 
The same may be said of Mahomedism, except that 
it would carry us much further into futurity than the 
papacy would ; for it can not be dated earlier than 
A.D. 606. 

The Era of the Little Horn. 

While standing in perplexity, — not knowing what 
to think of the vision, Gabriel was commissioned to 
reveal to the prophet its meaning. His first point of 
instruction related to the era of the vision (v. 17 :) 
"Understand, O son of man, for at the time of the end 
shall be the vision/' This time of the end is referred 
to several times in chapters xi. and xii. and seems to 
be a period devoted to the closing up of this dispen- 
sation. It is especially introduced in the eleventh 
chapter and fortieth verse, when a " king of the 
north,'' Syria, is in full tide of success. ^' At the time 
of the end, the king of the south shall push at him," 
i. e., the king of the north, " and the king of the north 
shall come against him [the king of the south] like a 
whirlwind." The king of the north was one of the 
four horns of the goat. This man there acting " at the 
time of the end," is that little horn, as we shall see 
when we come to the consideration of v. 31 of chapter 
xi. ; for he by his army takes away the daily saerijiee. 

The time of the end, then, being the era of his 
life, we next shall strive to ascertain whether it corre- 



CHAPTER VIII. 43 

spends with the further revelation of his times 
(verses 20-23) : ^^The ram which thou sawest having 
two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. The 
rough goat is the king of Grecia '' (Hebrew Javan). 
The great horn that is between his eyes is the first 
king. ^^ Now, that being broken, whereas four stood up 
for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of that nation, 
but not in his power. And in the last time [the ren- 
dering of Professor N. N. Whiting] of their kingdom,'^ 
thus implying that they will have more than one time 
of reigning (here allowing an interval for the Roman 
supremacy), and that this little horn will come up in 
that ^^ last time ; '^ '^ a king of fierce countenance and 
understanding dark sentences shall stand up. His 
power shall be mighty, but not by his own power." 
It will be by the power of the arch enemy — the devil, 
who will give ^^ him his power, and his throne, and 
great authority." (Rev. xiii.) ^^ He shall destroy 
wonderfully, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy 
people." This is what the little horn of chapter vii. 
and the beast of Rev. xiii. are to do. Then they are 
identical. ^^ He shall stand up against the prince of 
princes." Thus his character as an opposer of Christ, 
the prince of Princes, and Lord of lords, is rendered 
certain ; and he is thus evidently the Antichrist, who 
will resist Christ's assumption of the kingdom. But 
^' he shall be broken without hand," that is, by divine 
powar, — ^^ whom the Lord shall consume with the 



44 DANIEL'S VISION. 

spirit of his mouth, and destroy by the brightness of 
his coming.'^ (2 Thess. ii.) 

The four horns, or kingdoms of the Javanites, or 
Grecians, were all established within twenty years of 
the death of Alexander the Great. They were Syria, 
Egypt, Thrace, and Macedon. But they fell^ the last 
of them, Egypt, losing its royal power, B. C. 30 ; and 
neither of them have ever yet recovered it, except 
modern Greece, a branch of Macedon. 

The Turkish provinces are now struggling for inde- 
pendence, not yet in arms, it is trne, but none the less 
in reality ; and on the fall of the sultan's empire, their 
present enslaver, they will undoubtedly obtain that 
which they desire, and for which they are struggling, 
and thus have that last time of reigning, spoken of in 
this chapter. During this last time, the little horn 
will come up and complete the series of earthly em- 
pires, and it in turn will be compelled to give place 
to the Son of God. 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Seventy Weeks. 

In the eighth chapter and last verse, the prophet 
informs us of the effect of his vision both on his 
health and mind. '' I was sick certain days;"' ^^ I 
was astonished at the vision, but none understood 
it.'^ He next set himself to seek that being who 



CHAPTER IX. 45 

in his hours of perplexity had always listened to 
his earnest prayers, and afforded him the relief 
asked (see Dan. ii. 16-23) in reference to his people 
and city, the Jews, and Jerusalem ; and after hum- 
bling himself before God with confession and prayer, 
God heard and answered him, sending Gabriel again, 
who said, " I am now come to give thee skill and 
understanding. Therefore understand the matter, 
and consider the vision/' Then he told him of the 
seventy weeks -which were appointed upon his people 
and city, Jerusalem and the Jews, " to finish the trans- 
gression '^ of the nation, "to make an end of sins; '' 
'•' to make reconciliation ■ for iniquity,'^ by the true 
offering of Messiah, and thus " to bring in an 
everlasting righteousness,'^ for ever superseding the 
remembrance of sins again every year ; "to seal the 
vision and prophet," — thus stamping them as truly in- 
spired — "and to anoint the holy of holies.'' 

This is the last event of the seventy weeks, and at 
the latest ended on the day of pentecost, when the 
"most holy. place " in heaven was consecrated by the 
entrance of our Great High Priest, and his reception 
of the Holy Ghost with which to baptize his waiting 
church ; the full antitype of the anointing oil of the 
sanctuary. Then, as already remarked, ended the 
seventy weeks. 

The next question for our consideration is, Where 
did they begin? About this it seems that there can 



46 DANIEL'S VISION. 

be no doubt, for the Scriptures themselves fix the 
period — a period commencing with the going forth of 
the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem. 
This period we have recorded in Ezra vii. as being 
in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, 
B. C. 457. ^'Know, therefore, and understand, that from 
the going forth of the commandment to restore and 
build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the prince, shall be seven 
weeks, and threescore and two weeks.'' These two 
periods, sixty-two and seven, are together sixty-nine 
weeks. As we have remarked above, the law as truly 
provided for a week of seven years, the seventh to be 
a sabbath, as for a week of seven days, the seventh to 
be a sabbath. Sixty-nine sevens are four hundred and 
eighty-three years. Starting with B. C. 457, we fill 
up four hundred and eighty-three years in A. D. 26, 
or the thirtieth year of Christ's life. It was just 
at this point (see margin of the Reference Bibles) that 
the Messiah came to John, and was baptized by him in 
Jordan, and immediately afterward '^ anointed with 
the Holy Ghost," so that when he began his preach- 
ing, he said, '^ The time is fulfilled ; the kingdom of 
God is at hand." (Mark i. 15.) 

Seven years from that time brings us to A. D. 33, 
and the sacrificial death of Christ, his resurrection, 
entrance into heaven, his reception and dispensation 
of the Holy Ghost. Thus the seventy weeks were 
completed. 



chapter ix. 47 

The One Week. 

The one week of verse 27, usually called the last of 
the seventy, does in fact constitute no part of them at 
all, but a week independent of them, and belonging 
to Antichrist and his work alone. 

Verse 26 informs us that " after the cutting off* of 
Messiah " (some thirty-seven years after that event) 
"the people of the prince that should come'' (that is, 
Titus and the Eoman people) '' shall destroy the city 
i and the sanctuary ^' (that is, Jerusalem and the tem- 
ple) ; " and the end thereof shall be with a flood ; and 
to the end of the war" (of Eome against the Jews) 
^* desolations are determined." That war ended when 
the Roman government in A. D. 1870, eighteen hun- 
dred years from the fall of Jerusalem by the Roman 
hand, fell. The Jews were by that fall emancipated 
from Roman thraldom, and are free citizens of Italy, and 
to-day occupy prominent positions in the government. 

The Covenant Week. 

This, be it observed, follows the end of Rome's war 
on the Jews. That war is done, and they are free 
from the Roman yoke. We now have but to wait for 
the man who shall confirm a covenant with the Jews 
" for one week " of years. He is, as we regard him, 
the " little horn " of chapter eight, at whose work we 
have glanced, and also the " vile person ^' of chapter 



48 danjel's vision. 

eleven, which we are yet to consider. For after having 
" confirmed a covenant with them/'^ in the midst of the 
week "he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to 
cease." Or, in other words, he shall " take away the 
daily sacrifice, and place the abomination that maketh 
desolate." So this man " shall cause the sacrifice and 
oblation to cease ; and for the overspreading of abom- 
inations he shall make it desolate." This must be the 
same act performed by the same person as that de- 
scribed in chapters viii. 11 and xi. 31 ; for they do pre- 
cisely the same work. If so, the week is yet to come, 
as well as the being who shall confirm its prophetic 
events. But this will appear more evident as we 
proceed with chapter eleven, where this man and his 
covenant are more fully revealed, and the preceding 
visions fully explained. At the end of that week Anti- 
christ will lose his power. 

CHAPTER XL 

The Objects of the Chapter. 

In the preceding chapter (the tenth) we are in- 
formed by the prophet that a vision appeared to him 
in the third year of Cyrus, in which a glorious angel 
came to him, — probably Gabriel, who said (verse 14), 
" Noio I am come to make thee understand what shall 
befall thy people in the latter days^ for yet the vision is 
for many daysJ^ 



CHAPTER XL 49 

There can be no doubt as to the identity of DanieFs 
people. They are the Jews; and in the latter days 
the events of chapter eleven are to befall them. Let 
it be borne in mind, then, that the closing events of 
the chapter relate to the Jews in an especial manner, 
more than to any other people. Christ said to the 
Jews, ^^ / am come in my Father^ s name, and ye receive 
me not. If another shall come in his own name, him ye 
will receiveJ^ That one so coming is the vile person 
of xi. 21, who will be 'Hhe prince of the covenant,'^ 
and make a league with DanieFs people, who will re- 
ceive him as their long-looked-for Messiah. 

Medo-Persian and Grecian Historic Prophecy, 

The eleventh chapter of Daniel opens with a brief 
summary, in the first four verses, of the vision of the 
eighth chapter, so far as the ram, the goat, his great 
horn, and four notable ones are concerned. 

The first verse relates to Media; verse two, to five 
successive kings, who should reign over that domin- 
ion — Cyrus, then reigning ; Cambyses, his successor ; 
Smerdis, the Magian ; Darius, son of Hystaspes ; and 
lastly, Xerxes the Great, who by his strength and 
riches raised an army of over five millions of men, 
with which he invaded Greece; but he was defeated 
and compelled to retreat,, having suffered the most 
terrible reverses. Here the Persian line is discon- 
tinued, intervening kings are passed over, although 
4 



50 Daniel's vision. 

nine more reigned before the subject of the following 
verse was raised to fulfill the vision. But as the ob- 
ject of the Angel is only to direct the attention of the 
prophet to the prominent landmarks of future history, — 
a feature of the chapter noticeable throughout, — and 
as at this point commenced what may well be termed 
the decadence of the Medo-Persian empire, he passes 
on to consider the history of the mighty king, who in 
verse three is said to stand up and rule with great 
dominion, and do according to his will. This, all will 
perceive, relates to Alexander, the founder of the 
Macedonian empire, which overthrew Persia, and be- 
came mistress of the whole east. 

Verse 4 relates to the four horns of the goat, the 
kingdoms of Syria, Egypt, Thrace, and Macedon ; but 
of these four, only tw^o are presented to us in detail, 
viz., Syria and Egypt. The four generals of Alex- 
ander, who established the four kingdoms after his 
death, were Cassander, who reigned in Greece and 
the west; Lysimachus, who reigned over Thrace and 
the north; Ptolemy in Egypt and the south: and 
Seleucus over Syria and the east. 

Verse 5. Here begins the history of two of those 
four kingdoms, Egypt and Syria, respectively called, 
in this prophecy, the kings of the north and south; 
because Egypt lay south of Judea, and Syria north of 
it, not because of their geographical relation to each 
other. 



chapter' XL 51 

The king of the south of verse five, who is said to 
be strong, was Ptolemy, king of Egypt. He annexed 
Cyprus, Phoenicia, Caria, and many islands to Egypt. 
But Seleucus Nicator, king of Syria, another of the 
princes of Alexander, was strong above him. For he 
conquered Macedon, Thrace, and the larger part of 
Asia, from Phrygia to the Eiver Indus. 

Verse 6. This verse relates to a marriage alliance 
between Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
king of Egypt, and Antiochus Theus, king of Syria. 
And this, students of history will observe, is simply a 
landmark in the prophecy, not the next event occur- 
ring after the events described in v. 5. A war of 
some years had existed between these two kingdoms, 
and it w^as agreed to settle the strife by a marriage 
alliance. Antiochus was to put away Laodice, his wife, 
and marry Berenice, the Egyptian princess ; and her 
children were to succeed to the throne of Syria. The 
alliance was consummated. But after the death of 
her father, Antiochus put away Berenice and her son, 
and recalled his former wife Laodice. She, in turn, 
to prevent another exile, caused Antiochus to be 
killed, and placed her son on the throne. She then 
pursued Berenice and her son, and put them to death. 
Thus the agreement was broken. 

Verses 7-9. The branch out of her root, spoken of 
in this verse, was her brother, from the same root 
with herself This was Ptolemy Euergetes, king of 



52 DANIEL^S VISION. 

Egypt, and brother of Berenice. He raised a large 
army and invaded Syria to avenge the death of his 
sister ; conquered Syria, Cilicia, and the upper parts 
beyond the River Euphrates, took immense plunder, 
and some twenty-five hundred gods, and returned with 
them to Egypt immensely rich. This king survived 
Seleucus Callinicus four or five years. 

Verses 10-12. The sons of Seleucus Callinicus 
were Seleucus Ceraunus and Antiochus the Great. 
Seleucus died early, and Antiochus succeeded him, 
and invaded Egypt with a strong force to avenge the 
quarrel of his father. 

The king of the south at that time was of an indo- 
lent, luxurious disposition, and not easily aroused. 
Eut seeing danger immediately upon him, he gathered 
his forces and went out to meet Antiochus, fought a 
battle, and overthrew him near Raphia. The multi- 
tude of Syria was given into the hand of Ptolemy 
Philopator. But loving indolence, he neglected, to 
follow up his victory, and thus ^' was not the strength- 
ened by it.^' 

Thus ends the history of Antiochus the Great in 
utter defeat by Egypt. 

Verse 13. The king of the north of this verse, 
is not, as generally supposed, Antiochus the Great, 
again invading Egypt ; but Antiochus Epiphanes, the 
younger son of Antiochus the Great. He *' after cer- 
tain years ^^ came and invaded and conquered all 



CHAPTER XL 53 

Egypt, except Alexandria, and that he besieged. 
This may appear at this place simply an assertion, 
but its truth we will endeavor to prove at a future 
point. 

Verse 14. ^' In those times '' refers to the times of 
the invasion and conquest of Egypt by Epiphanes. 
^^ Many shall stand up againstJ^ The preposition in 
this place rendered against is often, in other places, 
rendered for. For instance, in Dan. xii. 1, we 
read, '' The great prince that standeth [up] for 
the children of thy people.'' The word translated 
for J in this instance, is precisely the same translated 
against in the verse under consideration. In this 
case it can only be rendered /or, the connection and 
subject both demanding it ; the reason why it was 
rendered against in chapter xi. 14, seems to have been 
because the prevailing opinion was, that Antiochus the 
Great is the subject; and he and Philip, king of 
Macedon, had entered into an alliance to conquer and 
divide Egypt between them ] and hence the translators 
rendered it according to their idea. But applying it 
to Epiphanes, the facts demand that we read the 
preposition the same as in Dan. xii. 1 — ^^for the king 
of the south.'' For while Antiochus lay before Alex- 
andria, embassadors from Rhodes visited him at his 
camp, and pleaded/or Egypt, but in vain. Afterward 
embassadors ^' from all the states of Greece went 
by appointment in a body, and one after the other 



54 DANIEL^S VISION. 

pleaded for Egypt, but without success.'' — See Boilings 
Ancient History. 

*^ Also the robbers of thy people shall exalt them- 
selves to establish the vision.^' The subjects of 
DaniePs vision who were to succeed the fourfold di- 
vision of the Greek empire, were the Romans, symbol- 
ized by the dreadful beast. Above all others may 
they be termed the robbers of DanieFs people, for they 
robbed and destroyed the Jewish nation. We do not 
know of any expositor who does not concede that it 
was in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, and at the 
juncture we are now considering, when the Romans 
came upon the stage as the fulfillers of the vision of 
the fourth beast, although they think they find it 
foretold in the thirty-first verse, instead of the four- 
teenth ; to which view we are compelled to object for 
reasons which we shall presently show. While Rhodes 
and the Grecian states were striving to reconcile 
Antiochus to Egypt, the Egyptians sent to Rome for 
help, and obtained it. Embassadors with letters from 
the Senate were sent to Egypt. They arrived at 
Alexandria, and proceeded at once to the Syrian camp. 

Popillus, the head of the embassy, an old friend of 
Antiochus, delivered the letters to the king, who, 
after glancing at the contents, said, " I will consult 
with my friends, and answer you soon.'' Drawing a 
circle around the feet of the king in the sand, Popillus 
raised his voice and said, " Answer the Senate before 



CHAPTER XL 55 

you leave that circle/' The Senate had commanded 
him to abandon his conquest of Egypt, and go home. 
Antiochus replied, ^^ I will do as the Senate desires.'' 
He then immediately raised the siege and retired from 
Egypt. That year Rome conquered Macedon, Syria 
submitted to her commands, and Egypt threw herself 
on the Senate for existence. Thus Rome became the 
virtual mistress of the east ; and then commenced her 
prophetic career. 

^^ But they shall fall.'' This was fulfilled in Septem- 
ber, A. D. 1870, when the Italian army fired on Rome, 
and the pope submitted to superior force ; since which 
time no Roman government has existed. 

To this it is objected that it is incongruous that 
only a part of a verse should be devoted to so impor- 
tant a power as Rome. But those who thus object do 
not appear to consider, firstj that this brief note refers 
to a former vision, in which Rome i^ fully rejiresented ; 
and that it was only needful to say here, that they ex- 
alted themselves at this juncture to fulfill the vision. 
Secondly, they do not appear to consider that the 
objects of these instructions are to introduce the little 
horn, and show from whence he rises, and what he 
does. Brief as the note is, it does what it w^as de- 
signed to do, and thus Jehovah's purpose in giving it 
is accomplished. 

Verses 15-19. ^^For the king of the north shall 
come," &c. The adverb /07^ evidently should be 



56 DANIEL^S VISION. 

rendered then ; i. e., next in order. The next in order 
in this line, — that is, after the final fall of the Roman 
government, the robbers of DaniePs people, — is the re- 
construction of the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, and 
)their return to their old feuds, as in the days of the 
Ptolemies and Antiochuses. 

That we are correct in placing these kings in 
^' the last time of their kingdoms,'^ and this side the 
fall of the Roman government, will appear evident to 
all who recognize the fact that after the king of the 
north is introduced in verses fifteen to nineteen, two 
more of them fill the whole course of time to the resur- 
rection. No human being can take this chapter from 
verse fifteen to the end, and carefully study it, and 
make more than three kings of the north. The his- 
tory of the first extending from verse fifteen to nine- 
teen ; the second, comprehended in verse twenty ; and 
that of the third embraced in verses twenty-one to forty- 
five; and that the third one is the little horn out of 
one of the four horns of the goat. This king of verse 
fifteen is to invade and conquer Egypt, and give a 
wife to the king; to stand in Palestine, invade and 
conquer many isles, and then be defeated and start for 
home ; but is *^ to stumble and fall, and not be found,'- 
thus evidently implying that he shall never reach his 
. destination. In applying this prediction to Antiochus 
the Great, we meet with the following difficulties, 
which render it evident that the prophecy does not 



CHAPTER XI. 57 

apply to him. Antiochus the Great, after his defeat in 
Greece, did start for home, and — reached it. He there 
made peace with Rome. Afterward reorganizing his 
forces, he started on an expedition to the east ^^ in 
order to levy money to pay the Romans ; but having 
plundered the temple of Elymais, beyond the Tigris, he 
there lost his life in a miserable manner.'' — See Bollin, 

The Second Future King of the North. 

He will be the " raiser of taxes '' of verse twenty. 
His history is brief. First. He is to ^^ stand up '' or 
reign in place of the invader of the isles, who stumbles 
and falls, and is not found ; and therefore he is also the 
king of the north. Second. He will reign a few days 
only, when he will be destroyed. Thus will pass away 
this second king of the series. 

This ^^ raiser of taxes " is usually regarded as 
Seleucus Callinicus, elder son of Antiochus the Great, 
and his successor. But as Antiochus did not meet 
the requirements of the nineteenth verse, by falling 
without reaching home, this can not be Seleucus ; and 
besides, he reigned, instead of a/eit? days, eleven years. 

The Third King — the Vile Person. 

Verse 21. " In his estate shall stand up '' — that is 
in the estate of the " raiser of taxes '' — a vile person^ 
who will be destroyed, and thus he too will be king of 
the north. This prophecy is usually applied to Antio- 



58 DANIEL^S VISION. 

chiis Epiphanes, younger son of Antiochus the Great, 
and brother of Seleucns. But if Seleucus and Antio- 
chus did not fill the part of the other two kings, this 
cannot be Epiphanes who did succeed his brother 
Seleucus. 

But again, Epiphanes no more filled the part of this 
king than his father and brother did of the two pre- 
ceding ones. The text says of this one, ^' He shall 
come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flat- 
teries.'^ This does not agree with the history of 
Epiphanes at all. We find that his brother was de- 
stroyed by Heliodorus, his treasurer, who usurped the 
throne. Antiochus immediately went to Pergamos, and 
obtained help of king Eumenes, who marched with an 
army, met and overthrew Heliodorus^ and placed 
Antiochus on the throne. If this was coming in 
" peaceably,^^ what would be by war? — See Rollin. 

Thus we have shown three successive kings — to 
whom almost the entire body of expositors have 
applied these three verses — each to have failed to ful- 
fill the part assigned them. We have also shown that 
Antiochus the Great and Epiphanes did fulfill the 
parts assigned them from verse ten to thirteen. And 
Epiphanes can be found nowliere else in this chapter. 
Besides, if we accept Epiphanes as the " vile person,'' 
we are compelled to adopt the plan of the old com- 
mentators, and of some moderns, and continue his 
history to verse forty-five, thus making him live in the 



CHAPTER xr. 59 

"time of the end/' when the resurrection and glorifi- 
cation of DaniePs people will take place. We must 
also have him this side of Christ, to set ^^ the abomina- 
tion of desolation in the holy place ; '^ for that event 
was yet in the future in Christ's day. But the '^vile 
person '^ is the one who is to place it there. Therefore 
he could not be Antiochus Epiphanes. 

It was so plain to all the early commentators that 
the vile person of verse twentj^-one was the same man 
that at verse forty-five is said to ^^ come to his end, 
and none shall help him/' that none ever thought of 
any other construction. Even Porphyry, the man 
who attempted to overthrow Daniel on the ground 
that his book was written after the event took place, 
maintained that it described Antiochus Epiphanes. 

It does not ever seem to have entered the mind of 
any, that it is not the career of one man which is de- 
scribed from verse twenty-one to forty-five, until 
the time of the Reformation, when it was needful, in 
order to prove the pope to be Antichrist, to intro- 
duce Rome in verse thirty-one. But it is a violent 
construction only which can accomplish it, and can 
never make harmony of the prophecy. For unques- 
tionably the kings of the north and south are again 
on the stage from verse forty to forty-five. And it 
is more difficult to change from Rome to them at that 
point, than from them to Rome at verse thii-tyone. 
And neither can be done without violence to language. 



60 DANIEL^S VISION. 

Verse 22. ^' And with the arms of a flood shall they 
be overflown from before him, and shall be broken.^^ 

It seems that, like Napoleon III., w^ho by flattery 
peaceably obtained the title of emperor, and after ho 
was seated found violent resistance from the people, 
but defended himself by crushing them, so will 
this Syrian king do when he shall rise. The people, 
having been betrayed by his flatteries, will rise 
against him. But with the arms of a flood will he 
overflow and break them. He will root up the former 
dynasty, and establish his own in its place. Thus 
Syria will be the first of the three out of the ten 
kingdoms which will fall before him, as set forth in 
Daniel vii. 8. 

^* Yea also, the prince of the covenant." It is 
evident that there is in this clause an ellipsis, which 
must be supplied to make the sense complete. 
There does not seem to be more than two ways of 
supplying it, viz., first, " Yea also, the prince of the 
covenant shall be broken ;^^ or secondly, "Yea also, 
lie shall be the prince of the covenant." If-we adopt 
the first, it, is left in uncertainty who the prince of the 
covenant is. If we adopt the second, it makes the 
vile person the prince of the covenant, and thus harmo- 
nize with — 

Verse 23. " And after the league (or covenant 
made with him," &c. If he is not the prince of the 
covenant, why proceed to speak of the covenant 



CHAPTER XL 61 

made with him ? There can be no reasonable doubt, 
therefore, but what this is the true reading. Then 
we are referred back to chapter nine, twenty-seventh 
verse, for the covenant/or one iveek, which this prince 
coufirms ^^ wath many '^ Jews. For it must not be for- 
gotten that the object of this revelation is, to make 
known ^^ what shall befall ^' DanieFs ^^ people in the 
latter days.^' " He shall come up and become strong 
with a small people.'^ One great objection which has 
been urged against the view set forth in these pages, 
is, " that even if Syria should regain her independence, 
she is so small that it is incredible that she should 
ever do what is foretold of this power. So it would 
seem. Yet if this king can succeed in securing an 
alliance with the Jews, with their enormous wealth, 
learning and numbers, a scattered people though 
they now are, what could he not do ? So we are told 
that '^ he shall be the prince of the covenant ; " 
(of Dan. ix. 27). " And after the league made with 
him, he shall work deceitfully ; for he shall come up, 
and become strong with a small people.'^ 

Verse 24. '^He shall enter peaceably^even upon 
the fattest places of the province." All opposition to 
him will then die out, and he will take possession, as 
the Messiah, whom he will profess to be, of all the land 
of Palestine, and do what his father never did — to 
secure the confidence of the Jewish people, he will 



62 DANIEL^S VISION. 

scatter the spoil and prey among them with a bounti- 
ful hand. 

Verse 25. ^^ And he shall stir up his power and 
courage against the king of the south with a great 
army.^^ No sooner than he feels himself firmly seated, 
and has at his command a sufficient force, than he will 
declare war against Egypt, and march against it with a 
great army. " And the king of the south . . . with 
a great and mighty army,'' far exceeding that of the 
king of the north, " shall be stirred up to battle.'' But 
large as the army of Egypt will be, he shall not be 
able to stand against Syria. '^ For they shall forecast 
devices against him," i, e., defeat him by superior 
strategy. 

Verse 26. " Yea, they that feed of the portion of 
his meat shall destroy him," &c. His own men and 
officers will betray and overthrow the Egyptian 
king. ^^ And his army " (the army of the king of the 
north) " shall overflow ; and many " (of the king of the 
south's army) " shall fall down slain.'^ 

Verse 27. " And both these kings' hearts shall be 
to do mischief," &c. They are described as having an 
interview with each other, and upon the occasion a 
feast. And while they negotiate, apparently with 
honest purposes, they will both have it in their 
hearts to do mischief, and shall speak lies to each 
other at one table. But the plans of neither will 
stand or prosper. 



CHAPTER XI. 63 

Verse 28. '' Then shall he '' (the king of Syria) 
^•return into his land with great riches/' obtained by 
his Egyptian conquest. 

^^His heart shall be against the holy covenant, and 
he shall do exploits, and return to his own land.'^ 
That is, his heart shall be against the covenant made 
with the Jews. For being now strong and wealthy, 
he will feel his importance and independence, and so 
become wearied of the covenant he has made. 

Vej^se 29. " At the time appointed he shall return, 
and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the 
former or as the latter.^' It does not appear by whom 
appointed ; but by whomsoever the time is appointed, 
his return will not be as successful as in his former 
assault on Egypt, or as a still future war with the 
same power will be. The former (verses 25-28) w^as, 
as we have seen, and so also w^ill be the latter^ as fore- 
told in the fortieth verse, ^* at the time of the end.'' 
The reason of this failure is stated in 

Verse 30. ^' For the ships of Chittim shall come 
against him.'' 

Kittim, or Chittim, was the son of Javan, grandson 
of Noah. Javan's descendants settled in the isles of 
the Gentiles, i. e., the Grecian Isles — Gen. x. 4, 5. 
When Gabriel came to make Daniel understand the 
vision of the eighth chapter, he informed him that the 
rough goat whom he saw was ^^ the king of Javan J^ 

Alexander reigned over the whole Grecian race 



64 Daniel's vision. 

and countries. Chittim, then, clearly means the Greeks. 
A naval force from Greece, then, will come against 
the vile person, and defeat him on this, his second. ex- 
pedition against Egypt, and " he shall be grieved, and 
return " home. 

He is then described as having '^ indignation 
against the holy covenant '^ — that is, the same 
covenant with the Jews of which he is described to 
have become wearied in verse twenty-eight. But after 
this defeat he will be enraged at it, probably suspect- 
ing some treachery on the part of the Jews, and will 
determine to release himself from it; and to this end 
^^ he will have intelligence," or confer with the ene- 
mies of the covenant as to how it may be done. 

Verse 31. ^^ And arms shall stand on his part.'^ 
In the eighth chapter of his. prophecy we are informed 
that ^'a Jwst was given him against the daily sac- 
rifice. '' 

The host of this passage is the same as arms in 
the passage under consideration, and in both passages 
it means that the army will be at his command, and 
that it will be used to take away, or cause to be dis- 
continued, the daily sacrifice, or temple worship of the 
Jews, which he will have agreed to sustain and pro- 
tect. They will also be his agents to place the abom- 
ination of desolation in the temple as an object of 
worship. This is the same which Christ referred to 
in his prediction of Matt. xxiv. 15, which was future 



CHAPTER xr. 65 

even in his day. It is no doubt the same as the 
image of the beast spoken of in the thirteenth chapter 
of 'Revelation ; and also as the strange god of this 
same man in verses 3S. 39. 

Verse 32. '* And such as do ^vicbedlv against the 
covenant.'' There will be a class of Jews who. disre- 
garding the covenant, will join with the king in its 
violation. These he will flatter and corrupt. But 
another class, faithful adherents to the worship of their 
God, will be firm and strong in maintaining the right 
against all encroachments. 

Ferse 33. '• And thev that understand among the 
people shall instruct many.^' This means that there 
will be a class who will understand the times in which 
they live, and warn the people. But for so doing, 
they will suffer great persecutions for twelve hundred 
and ninety days, or as it is written, ^' many days.'^ 

Verse 34. " Now when they shall fall, they shall 
be holpen with a little help.'' They will find some 
relief from the terrible calamities inflicted upon them 
by this king ; '• but many shall cleave to them with 
flatteries,'' only to betray them the more readily. 

Verse 35. " And some of them of understanding 
shall fall, to try them, and to purge," &c. The faithful 
religious teachers, in order that they may be fully 
purged, will be tried by various forms of persecution 
up to the time of the end, and events of verses 40 to 45. 

Verse 36. ^' And the king." The king of this verse 
5 



66 Daniel's vision. 

is the same as the one introduced at verse 21. The 
king of the north '^ shall do according to his will ; '^ 
that is, he will be an absolute despot, and exalt him- 
self so high that he shall do whatever pleases him 
without fear of opposition or defeat. Thus he shall 
perform the part of the man of sin as described in 2 
Thess. ii., as will be seen by comparing that description 
with this. 'VWho opposeth and exalteth himself above 
all that is called God, or that is worshiped ; so that 
he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing him- 
self that he is God.'' Thus Paul writes. So also the 
angel to Daniel : " And he shall exalt himself, and 
magnify himself above every god, and shall speak mar- 
velous things against the God of gods." Are not the 
two descriptions word pictures of one and the same 
person ? 

Verse 37. '^ Neither shall he regard the God of his 
fathers, nor the desire of ^ women, nor regard any God; 
for he shall magnify himself above alV^ Here the par- 
allel between Daniel and Paul is seen to be complete. 
So that there can be no doubt but what Paul's man of 
sin and Daniel's willful king are, as we have already 
said, identical. Therefore the man of sin cannot be 
the pope ; for when has he, or the system of which he 
is the head, ever magnified himself above every God, 
and regarded not the God of his fathers, nor any Gods. 
It may be replied, that he has not done so as to the 
bare fact, but that the whole tenor of his assumptions 



CHAPTER XT. G7 

and his acts in reality vails God from the sight of his 
followers, and concentrates their attention upon him as 
the head of his people. But we reply, this does not at 
all meet the case. Corrupt as the system of the papacy 
may be, yet no one can pretend that any pope has ever 
even professed to magnify himself above all Gods, or 
has ever ceased in his teachings to regard the God of 
his fathers. On the contrary, he has ever appealed to 
him as his superior, calling upon him to bless those 
whom he blessed ; to pour out the vials of his wrath 
on the heads of those on whom his maledictions rested. 
He has, it is true, assumed high titles, but never ceased 
to teach that he was but God's vicegerent upon earth, 
— it is true, clothed with God-like powers, but yet infe- 
rior to, and submissive to God. Nor have his followers, 
in the moments of their blindest devotion ever re- 
garded him as more than that. In a parallel passage, 
in Rev. xiii., we find the ten horned beast therein de- 
scribed demanding this same universal worship ; and 
all who dwell on the earth shall worship him, unless 
their names are written in the book of life. Beside 
this worship of the beast, as described in Rev. xiii., it 
appears that he has an image, to be worshiped under 
the direction of a two horned beast, whose character 
and mission are therein set forth. So in like manner 
this willful king, as we read in 

Verses 38 and 39, will have and honor '^ a strange 
god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with 
glory." 



68 DANIEL'S VISION. 

The Time op the End. 

Verse 40. " And at the time of the end shall the 
king of the south '' (Egypt) ^^ push at him ^' (the king 
of the north). ^^ And the king of the north" (Syria) 
" shall come against him " (the king of Egypt) " like a 
whirlwind." At the time of his former attempt on 
Egypt, verse 30, a naval force repelled him. Now he 
comes with a powerful force of his own against Egypt, 
as also with artillery and cavalry, and is successful in 
the war. And besides conquering Egypt, he will en- 
ter all the adjoining countries, such as Edom^ Moab, 
and Ammon, and for a season make them his 
subjects. 

Verse 41. " The glorious land " is Palestine, which 
also he will possess. But he will not be able to hold 
them all ; for Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children 
of Aramon, will escape from him. 

Verse 42. ^' He shall stretch forth his hand also 
upon the countries ; and the land of Egypt shall not 
escape. This will probably be another of the three 
horns which will be plucked up by the roots before 
him; "and the glorious land," Palestine, will be a 
third one. These he holds. 

Ferse 43. " All Egypt's precious things will be at 
his disposal." What is meant by the Ethiopians and 
Libyans being at his steps is not clear. 

Verse 44. *^ But tidings out of the east and out of 



CHAPTER XII. 69 

the north shall trouble him.*' That is, he will hear 
that his eastern conquests are in revolt, and will 
hasten with fury to subdue them. 

Verse 45. ^^ The tabernacle of his palace between 
the seas/' the Dead and the Mediterranean, on Mount 
Zion. There as the Antichrist he will plant himself 
in opposition to Jesus Christ, and meet him there in 
the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 
^^ Yet he shall come to his end and none shall help 
him.'' " Whom the Lord shall consume with the 
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the bright- 
ness of his coming." (2 Thess. ii. 8.) Thus shall Christ, 
when he comes with the armies of heaven to take 
vengeance on all his enemies, overthrow and cast him 
into the lake of fire, where the smoke of his torment 
shall ascend forever and ever. 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Standing up of Michael. 

Verse 1. ^^ At that time." This does not neces- 
sarily mean, as many have supposed, at the time 
that the willful king comes to his end, but during the 
period of his career, as given in chapter xi, especially 
during his persecutions of the saints. " Shall Michael 
stand up;" "Michael your prince," chap. x. 21. 
"Michael, one of the chief princes;" Michael the 
archangel," &c. Michael is one of the high arch- 
angels, a companion and fellow-servant of Gabriel, 



70 DANIEL^S VISION. 

and the one who has the special supervision of the 
Jewish nation. '^ Stand up.'' That is, shall organize 
his hosts and marshal them for the defense of Daniel's 
people. ^^ And there shall be a time of trouble." 
This is the same as the tribulation of Matt. xxiv. 
21, consequent on the standing of ^Hhe abomination 
of desolation '' in the holy place. And this determines 
the import of the phrase, *^ At that time," to mean the 
period of the ^^ vile person'Sj^ administration, not the 
time of his fall. ^^ Such as never was since there 
was a nation." Christ has it — ^* from the beginning 
of the world to that time, no, nor ever shall be." 

'^ And at that time thy people sliall be delivered, 
every one that shall be found written in the book of 
life." The deliverance is that which all saints will 
experience at Christ's coming to destroy AntiChrist 
— their resurrection and glorification, as described in 
the following verses. 

Verse 2. "And many of them that sleep in the 
dust of the earth shall awake." In saying " many " 
he implies that all will not awake, the same as when 
the evangelist says, *'^and many of the bodies of the 
saints which slept arose." There is also plainly stated 
the orders of the resurrection: '^ some, (or, as Pro- 
fessor Bush rendered it), these (the awakened) to 
everlasting life, and those (the unawakened) to 
shame and everlasting contempt." 

This agrees with Christ's words in John v. 29, 
where, speaking of the time of the resurrection of the 



CHAPTER XII. 71 

dead, he says, ^^ and shall come forth ; they that have 
done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that 
have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.'^ 
Here the two orders of resurrection are adverted to ; 
an order yet more fully set forth in Rev. xx. 4-6, 
which will be considered in its proper place. 

Verse 3. " And they that be wise shall shine as 
the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn 
many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.^' 
No language can more fully express the exaltation 
and eternal glorification of the saints of God in their 
resurrection state than does this passage, so full of 
beauty and hope ; and we have here the time of 
recompense to God's tried and purified saints, when, 
redeemed from mortality and the sufferings of life 
they shall shine as stars in the kingdom of their Father. 

Verse 4. ^^ But thou, Daniel, shut up the words 
and seal the book, even to the time of the end.'' These 
instructions are unlike those of the Apocalypse; these 
predictions were not for the instruction of the 
prophet, or those who lived in that age, but for the 
benefit of later ages, and especially the closing 
period of time, *^ Many shall run to and fro, and 
knowledge shall be increased ; " or, as some express it, 
" many shall turn to and fro the pages of the book ; 
and the knowledge of its import shall be increased." 
This is the view" adopted by many modern commenta- 
tors, and among them that of Rev. A. R. Faussett, 



72 DANIEL'S VISION. 

who says on this passage, " It does not refer to the 
modern rapidity of locomotion, as some think, nor to 
Christian missionaries going about to preach the 
gospel to the world at large, which the context scarce- 
ly admits, but, whereas now but few care for this 
prophecy of God, 'at the time of the end/ i. e. near 
its fulfillment, ' many shall run to and fro/ i. e. scruti- 
nize it, running through ever}" page. It is thereby 
that the knowledge (viz. of God's purpose as revealed 
in the prophecy) shall be increased." But whether 
we regard it in this light or in the sense of general 
and speedy locomotion, or in increase of knowledge 
on all subjects, it is remarkably fulfilled in our own day. 
Verses 5-7. In these three verses, a vision of the 
prophet is described, in which two angels, one on 
either side of the river, and a third standing on the 
waters of the river, appeared in earnest converse ; one 
asking the other, " How long shall it be to the end of 
these wonders?" i. e., how long a period will be 
required for the closing up of these wonders? Not 
how long from the third year of Cyrus to the end. 
The angel answered with uplifted hands, and sware 
by him that liveth forever, " that it shall be for a 
time, times, and a half." Will that bring the end ? may 
be inquired. It will not, we reply. After that pe- 
riod ends, the power of the holy people must be 
scattered or broken up. And it is not until that shall 
be accomplished, that all will be finished. The vile 



CHAPTER XII. 73 

king is the one who is to scatter that power. This 
period is the first half of the one week already spoken 
of, as set forth in Dan. ix. 27, during which the Jew- 
ish power will be concentrated and established. The 
other part of the week will be filled in an effort to 
scatter their power. 

Verse 8. ^^I heard, but I understood not; then 
said I, my Lord, what shall be the end of these 
things? ^' That is, what will be after the time, times, 
and a half end ? 

Verse 9. " And he said, Go thy way, Daniel. For 
the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the 
end '^ — the time unto which he was told, in verse 4, to 
seal them up, so that he was not permitted by God 
to understand them. 

Verse 10. "Many,^^ under the persecution of Anti- 
christ, '^ shall be purified, made white, and tried ; bnt 
the wicked shall do wickedly ; and none of the wicked 
shall understand '' the times in which they live, and the 
approach of the end ; '^ but the wise shall understand '' 
the subject. 

Verse 11. ^' And from the time that the daily 
sacrifice^' (which is set up after the league made be- 
tween Antichrist and the Jews) ^^ shall be taken away ^' 
(as we read in chapter xi. 31) '^ and the abomination 
that maketh desolate set up,'' there shall be left of the 
one week of Antichrist, ^^ a thousand two hundred 
and ninety days,'' to the end of the week. 



74 DANIEL'S VISION. 

In seven times or years (of 365 days each) are 2555 
days. 2555 — 1290 = 1265. Then the first part of 
the week is 1265 days long. At the end of the 1290 
days the week ends, and the power of the vile person 
to persecute the saints will be at an end ; but not his 
ruling power over his own subjects. That v/ill con- 
tinue until the great battle described in Rev. xix. 11, 
when he and his followers will be completely over- 
thrown, and God's w^aiting, sujffering church rewarded 
for all their numerous and severe trials. 

Verse 12. ^' Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh 
to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty 
days.'^ These days are not contemporaneous with 
the twelve hundred and ninety days, as is usually 
understood, but consecutive in their order. The 
twelve hundred and ninety daj^s, are the times of the 
tribulation of the saints, the thirteen hundred and 
thirty-five, the time of God's judgments on the wicked, 
when the saints who reach their beginning will be 
blest or happy ; for they will suffer no more, but only 
see the reward of the wicked in the seven last plagues. 

Verse 13. ^^But go thou thy way till the end. 
For thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of 
the days.'^ At the end of the thirteen hundred and 
thirty -five days, then, Daniel will have his resurrection 
and reward, — not before ; and with him all the saints 
of God. 

The entire length of time from the commencement 




Antichrist here confirms a covenant with\ 
many for one week. 



He here breaks it, and the daily sacrifice 
is taken away, and Abomination of 
Desolation set up. 



Sign of Son of Man. Ending of / 
persecution, and end of the one/ 
week. 



Appearance of Christ to reign. 

75 



76 Daniel's vision. 

of the one week of the covenant will be 2555 days 
+ 1335 days = 3890 days. The twentj^-three hundred 
days of chapter viii. 14, embrace the whole time from 
the setting up of the temple service, after the covenant 
is made, to the end of the abomination in the temple. 
Thus 2555 — 2300 = 255 days. We will suppose 
these to be the days of preparation for the daily offer- 
ings. Then 2300 — 1290 = 1010 days for the offerings 
to be continued. This will leave twelve hundred and 
ninety days for the abomination of desolation in the 
holy place. Thus 255 + 1010 + 1290 = 2555 days, or 
one week of years. (See Chart Hoy a connected view, 
page 75.) Thus we have endeavored, as briefly as 
consistent with the dignity and . importance of the 
subject, to give a general outline of the great scheme 
of prophetic events from the days of Daniel down to 
the consummation of God's purposes in the establish- 
ment of his everlasting kingdom under the whole 
heavens, and are now prepared -to enter into the 
study of the closing book of God's revelation to man. 
Let us proceed to the study with the earnest prayer 
that God may indeed lead us into all truth, and give 
us hearts to understand and love that truth. And let 
us endeavor to exercise that spirit of broad charity 
and earnest research which will bear with what we 
may consider folly, and accept nothing until we have 
obeyed the scriptural injunction, and ^^ proved all 
things j^ that we may ^^ hold fast to that which is true." 



THE APOCALYPSE. 



CHAPTER I. 

Verse 1. " The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which 
God gave unto him^ to shew unto his servants things 
which must shortly come to pass ; and he sent and 
signified it by his angel unto his servant John.'' 

The word Apocalyiose signifies manifestation or un- 
vailing; hence many understand it as a manifesta- 
tion of the person of Jesus Christ. It is perfectly 
true that we are afforded a view of his person in the 
progress of the revelation ; but that this is the im- 
port of this introduction to the book we think is 
incorrect. It distinctly purports to be a revela- 
tion which Jesus Christ, by the will of God, made 
through the ministry of his angel to his servant 
John, concerning ^' things which must come to pass 
with celerity. '^ It is apparent, therefore, that it is 
Christ the revealer of " things," rather than Christ 
the revealed, that is presented. Thus he is pre- 
sented as the one who reveals all the various series 
of things which are recorded in the book ; as he says 

77 



78 THE APOCALYPSE. 

in the closing chapter, " I Jesus have sent my angel 
to testify these things in the churches.^' 

Tliis Apocalypse came thus : God gave it to Jesus 
Christ ; Jesus Christ to his angel ; the angel gave it 
to John ; and John wrote it in a scroll, and sent it to 
the seven churches which are in Asia; and thus it has 
come to us. 

The words ^v Tax^i are in the common version de- 
prived of their proper signification by the use of the 
word ^^ shortly.^' The sense is not that the things 
about to be described would " shortly come to pass '' 
from that time; but it is a revelation of things which, 
when the time comes for their accomplishment, will 
follow each other ^'with speedj^ and thus all be then 
fulfilled in a short time. In the closing portion of the 
book Christ makes reference to this declaration, and 
avers that he has done what is here proposed ; thus 
we read (chapter xxii. 6), '- And he said unto me, 
These sayings are faithful and true, and the Lord God 
of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his ser- 
vants the things which must shortly come to pass." 
Here the same thought is apparent — the celerity 
with which events would lohirl on toward their ful- 
fillment when the era marked for their commence- 
ment should dawn. 

This is a distinct statement of the nature of the 
book, and it entirely precludes the historical view 
held by the greater mass of commentators, which 



CHAPTER I. 79 

makes the events described cover many ages in their 
accompHshment. Says Faussett, ^^The chnrch Jiist or- 
ical view goes counter to the great principle that 
Scripture interprets itself. Eevelation is to teach us 
to understand the timeSj not the times to interpret to 
us the Apocalypse. 

Verse 2. ^^ Who bare record of the word of God, 
and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things 
that he saw." 

There are three things of which the seer informs 
us he bare record. 1. Of the word of God, for this 
revelation came from God. 2. Of the testimony of 
Jesus Christ, for there are a number of testimonies 
from him in this book. 3. " And of all things which 
he saw '' in the following visions. These three parts 
constitute the entire book. 

Verse 3. ^^ Blessed is he that readeth, and they that 
hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things 
which are written therein: for the time is at hand.'' 

If the blessing had been pronounced on those only 
understanding these prophetic records, how few would 
be encouraged to seek the blessing ! But God has not 
left us with any such impression; very far from it 
indeed. It is pronounced on the reader and hearer, 
that is, as was originally meant, on the public reader, 
who, in the church assemblies, read the message of 
God to the churches in accordance with his w^ord ; 



80 THE APOCALYPSE. 

and on those who heard with a.view to keeping tht 
words which are written therein. But it none the less 
applies to all who earnestly read, hear, and endeavor 
to keep the sayings of God recorded within its pages. 
In due time those who perform these three parts 
shall see their accomplishment, and understand the 
predictions. They w^ill be able to say, ^^ Thus it was 
written, and thus it comes to pass.'^ 

Verse 4. ^^ John to the seven churches which are in 
Asia : Grace he unto you, and peace, from him which 
is, and which was, and which is to come ; and from the 
seven Spirits which are before his throne.^' 

The salutation written in this verse is addressed to 
the churches of Asia Minor, in whose service this 
apostle had spent much of his life ; and for which, at 
the time of writing, he was in exile and suffering. 

The benediction is pronounced in the name of God 
the Father, who fills eternity ; ^^ which is, which was, 
and which is to come.'' It is true that Jesus Christ 
appropriates the same terms to himself. But this only 
proves him co-eternal with the Father. That it is not 
Christ to whom reference is made in this verse is 
clear from his being specially and distinctly named 
in verse 5, ^' and from Jesus Christ,^' &c. 

"And from the seven spirits which are before his 
throne.'' These seven spirits Professor Stuart re- 
gards as " seven presence angels," such as Gabriel^ 
who announced himself to Zacharias (Luke i. 19), say- 



CHAPTER I. 81 

ing, ^' I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of 
Gocl/^ They are Christ's hierarchy, and are placed 
under his immediate direction, and hence are symbol- 
ized by the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb. 
(Chapter v. 6.) Also, in chapter viii. 2, we are told of 
the *' seven angels which stood before God; '^ the very 
place the seven spirits are said to occupy. 

Verse 5. '^ And from Jesus Christ, iclio is the faith- 
ful Witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and 
the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that 
loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
blood.'^ 

He is the channel of all grace to a lost world. His 
characteristics are thus stated: 1. " The faithful wit- 
ness.'' He has testified the Father's will. 2. '' The 
first begotten from the dead." Others had been raised 
from the dead before him, as the two children raised 
by Elijah and Elisha, the man who was raised by 
touching the bones of the prophet, the daughter of 
Jairus, the widow's son, and Lazarus. But these were 
raised in mortality, to live their appointed time, and 
then again pass into the grave. Jesus Christ was 
born into a new and immortal life, and hence can 
die no more — the first begotten from the dead of all 
those who will after- come up through him, to share 
the immortality of which he alone is the dispenser. 
3. "' The prince, or arcJiorij chief ruler of the kings of 
the earth.'^ When on earth he declared, ^^ All power 
6 



82 THE APOCALYPSE. 

is given unto me in heaven and in earth." (Matt, 
xxviii. 18.) And so we are told by the apostle in Ephe- 
sians, chapter i. 20-22, that God *^ raised him from 
the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the 
heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, 
and might, and dominion, and every name that is 
named, not only in this world, but also in that which 
is to cotiie; and hath put all things under his feet, 
and gave him to be the head over all things to the 
church," Thus all kings of the earth are now under 
his providential government as their chief prince. 
He is not now their king. But when he shall come 
from heaven to take possession of his kingdom, he 
will then bear the title of ^^ King of Kings, and Lord 
of Lords ; " for he will then have received his royal 
investiture. Now he is the nobleman gone away 
into a far country to receive to himself a kingdom. 
When once received he will come again to take pos- 
session and enter upon his regal rights. 

^^Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our 
sins in his own blood." No other fountain can wash 
away our sins ; this alone can purify, and this the 
love of Christ to us has provided — his own blood. 
Happy he who with full confidence can say, — 

*' By faith I plunge me in this sea; 
Here is my hope, my joy, my rest." 

Verse 6. "And hath made us kings and priests 



CHAPTER L 83 

unto God and his Father ; to him he glory and domi- 
nion for ever and ever. Amen.'^ 

These words have stood in their present form for 
many years. But recent eminent critics are generally 
agreed that the passage should be rendered according 
to some of the oldest manuscripts, " made us a king- 
dom; priests to God and his Father.^^ All British 
subjects are not kings, but they constitute a kingdom. 
So with Christ^s redeemed ; they will not all be kings^ 
except as in a general sense they are joint heirs with 
him, and are promised a seat on his throne, but will, 
together be a kingdom^ under Christ their king. Each 
saint is a priest to offer unto God spiritual sacrifices. 
(Peter ii. 5.) 

Verse 7. ^^ Behold, he cometh with clouds ; and 
every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced 
him : and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because 
of him. Even so, Amen.'^ 

Christ having been presented in the preceding 
verses as the one to whom we owe all we are or hope 
to be, John breaks forth in the exclamation of this 
verse, and carries us forward to the time when w^e 
shall be incorporated into the kingdom which he 
makes us, that is, when he ^^ cometh with clouds/' 
The expression here used is one of which Christ him- 
self made use wdien, in instructing his disciples as to 
the signs preceding and attending his advent, he said 
(Matt. xxiv. 30), '^ And then shall all the tribes of the 



84 THE APOCALYPSE. 

earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming 
in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.'' 
When he ascended, a cloud received him out of their 
sight, and the shining ones, who appeared to the sor- 
rowing, astonished disciples, declared, "that he should 
come again in like manner '- — a terrible day of doom 
to the ungodly, but the consummation of the Christian's 
hope ; for it is the signal of his perfect deliverance 
from this world, and his introduction to that state of 
immortality in which he shall have fullness of joy for- 
.ever. We shall then " be like him, for we shall see 
him as he is." Well might the poet exclaim, inspired 
by the same exultant hope which filled the breast of 
the rapt apostle, — 

" O, what a blessed hope is ours 
While here on earth we stay ! 
We more than taste the heavenly powers 
And antedate that day." 

"They also who pierced him." These words are 
not to be taken simply as a reference to those whose 
sins, resting on Christ, pierced his soul with anguish; 
they perhaps may imply or cover this, but the phrase 
has undoubted reference to the Roman soldiers, long 
dead, but alive in spirit, who pierced his hands, and his 
feet with the nails, and his side with the " cruel " 
spear, as also to the Jews, who bitterly and with 
malignancy demanded his death. All the dead in 
spirit will behold the scene. " And all the tribes of 



CHAPTER, I. 85 

the earth/' living at the time, and opposed to and 
hating him, ^^ shall wail because of him/' knowing that 
the time of their irrevocable, everlasting destiny has 
come. 

Verse 8. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning 
and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which 
was, and which is to come, the Almighty. 

It is the one who comes in clouds, who makes this 
claim to stand at the top and bottom, at the begin- 
ning and ending, of the line. None preceded him, and 
none will follow when he shall cease to be. The exist- 
ing, the past, and the future, thus he fills eternity ; and 
having made this known, he aflSrms himself to be ^^ the 
Almighty." Who, then, can -resist the conclusion that 
he is what he, not only here, but throughout his entire 
history, claims to be, the eternal God, co-equal and 
co-eternal with the Father ? 

Verse 9. " I John, who also am your brother, and 
companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and 
patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called 
Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of 
Jesus Christ.'' 

Christ the revealer having been exhibited in the 
preceding verses, in this verse John, his servant 
and agent, defines himself. " I John," a person 
well known to the churches of proconsular Asia, 
'* who am also your brother " in Christ, ^^ and com- 
panion in tribulation/' suffering with you for the 



86 THE APOCALYPSE. 

same Master ; '' and '^ companion " in the kingdom and 
patience of Jesus Christ.^' The sense in which John 
and his brethren were in the kingdom of Jesus Christ 
was the sense in which the trees of a nursery are an 
orchard. They are an orchard in erabryo. The same 
trees found in the nursery will, when transplanted, 
constitute the orchard. So the saints of God, endur- 
ing the trials of the present state, are heirs of the 
kingdom, where the grace of patience will not be 
tried, it having already been proved here. ^^ Was in 
the isle called Patmos,'' a rocky and desolate island 
in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Asia Minor, 
about thirty miles in circumference. At what time 
in the world's history these visions were given is not 
certain. But the mass of testimony seems to favor the 
time of Domitian, emperor of Rome ; but others claim 
it to have been under Nero. But it is of no material 
consequence which emperor was reigning at the time. 
The book is equally inspired in either case. 

Verse 10. ^^ I was in thq Spirit on the Lord's day, 
and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.^' 

While thus exiled he informs us, ^' I was fiv nv^vuari 
ev T?j xvQia XI] 7]U^qcf in spirit in the day pertaining 
to the Lord.'' There is a diversity of opinion as to 
the import of this passage, some contending that it 
means Sunday, or the first day of the week, and 
others that it means the day of judgment. The argu- 



CHAPTER I. £7 

ment in favor of the latter view is this: 1. The first 
day of the week is never designated in the Greek 
Testament by any other expression than oaljlJazog — 
Sabhatos, If there is an exception here, it has no 
support anywhere else. 2. The proposition er, in, 
used alike before nvevi^iari, spirit, and before rjueQaj 
day, demands a uniform rendering ; if in spirit, it should 
also be in the day ; not in spirit and on the day. It 
is not, '^ I was in a spiritual frame of mind on Sunday/' 
as is usually understood ; but, '^ I was in spirit '^ en- 
tranced "in the day pertaining to the Lord'^ — the 
same as Paul was absent from the church in body, 
but " present in sj)irit,^^ except that we are not to sup- 
pose PauPs spirit to have been actually entranced as 
was John's, but that his mind was with them, while 
John was actually entranced, and permitted to be in 
that day and witness its events. The argument in 
favor of regarding the phrase as referring to the first 
day of the week is, 1. That the Christian fathers 
used the phrase as referring to the first day of the 
week. 2. That the expression of 2 Peter iii. 10, " But 
the day of the Lord,'' i] iiueQa xvQiov^ is a different 
form of expression from this under consideration. This 
is true : but it by no means follows that it means Sun- 
day. The argument is in favor of the day of judg- 
ment. But the crowning argument is this, — which 
will be developed more fully as we proceed, — that the 
scenes which John saw described in the following 



88 THE APOCALYPSE. 

chapter are really descriptions of the transactions of 
the time of judgment ; and so the words "in the day 
pertaining to the Lord '' must have reference to that 
period. 

'^ I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet.'^ 
This attracted his attention to what follows. 

Verse 11. "Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the 
first and the last ; and, what thou seest, write in a 
book, and send it unto the seven churches which are 
in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto 
Pergamus, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and 
unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." 

These seven churches were each to be served with 
a copy of the scroll, for greater safety and certainty of 
transmission to succeeding generations. 

Verse 12.. "And I turned to see the voice that 
spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven 
golden candlesticks.^' 

" I turned to see the voice which spake with me ; " 
or to discern the person from whom the voice pro- 
ceeded. " And being turned, I saw seven golden 
candlesticks,^' or, more properly, lamp-stands, — not 
such as were used first in the tabernacle and after- 
wards in the temple, for that was 07ie with seven 
branches. This must have been seven distinct lamp- 
stands ; for in the midst of them was one like unto 
the Son of Man ; yet no doubt expressing the same 
thought as did the candlestick of the temple, — the 



CHAPTER I. 89 

entire church of God; — but yet each unlike that one, 
unrestricted to one outward unity and one place. 
" The several churches are mutually independent as 
to external ceremonies and government (provided all 
things are done to edification, and schisms and need- 
less separations are avoided), yet one in the unity of 
the spirit and the headship of Christ.'' ^ 

Verses 13-16. "And in the midst of the seven golden 
candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed 
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the 
paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs 
were white like wool, as white as snow ; and his eyes 
were as a flame of fire ; and his feet like unto tine 
brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice 
as the sound of many waters. And he had in his 
right hand seven stars ; and out of his mouth went a 
sharp two-edged sword ; and his countenance w^as as 
the sun shineth in his strength.'' 

No doubt in this description of the glory of his 
person there is a symbolization of the exalted perfec- 
tions of his being and oflSce. But at the same time 
we see no incongruity in regarding this as a real 
description of his person, blazing in brightness and 
glory indescribable. As terribly glorious a likeness 
of majesty and beauty as this word picture of the 
glorified God-man presents, we of course do not con- 
sider it as anything more than a feeble representation 
of what actually exists. To one who was on the 

* Faussett. 



90 THE APOCALYPSE. 

mount of transfiguration with Christ, there could be 
no room for doubt, as to the identity of this glorious 
personage — the Son of God in his majesty, as he will 
appear when he comes in his glory. 

Verse 17. " And when I saw him I fell at his feet 
as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying 
unto me, Fear not ; 1 am the first and the last.^' 

The scene was so awfully glorious as to over- 
whelm the entranced seer, and cause him to fall as 
dead before the feet of his divine Master. " But he 
laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me. Fear 
not; I am the first and the last.'' Unwilling that the 
servant whom he had loved on earth so tenderly, and 
whom even in his glory he had not forgotten, should 
suffer from the majesty of his presence, he stoops to 
raise him up, and condescends to still his fears. How 
like that Master, who, when the fears of his disciples 
were aroused as he walked upon the waters of the 
Sea of Galilee, allayed their terror by his words, " It 
is I, be not afraid ! '' So now he says, ^^Fear not, I 
am the first and the last.'' 

Verse 18. ^^I am he that liveth and was dead; and 
behold I am alive for evermore. Amen ; and have the 
keys of hell and of death." 

John could not mistake this for any other but Christ. 
Christ had promised (Matt. xvi. 18) that the gates 



CHAPTER I. 91 

of hades, the place of custody of the souls of the de- 
parted, should not be so fast closed as to prevail 
against or prevent his church, so but what he would 
rescue the soul of every child of God from its domin- 
ion. He had now been dead, and his soul had been 
in the custody of hades, and his body in that of death. 
Both had been vanquished, so that his ^^ soul was not 
left in hades ; neither did his flesh see corruption.^' 
Having seized the keys of the world of the dead, and 
released himself from its power, he had the powen* 
also to rescue the human race from its grasp ; a power 
well calculated to reassure one who had perfect con- 
fidence in his willingness so to do. Hades is never 
used in the New Testament for the grave ; and is 
only once so rendered, and that erroneously, in 1 Cor. 
XV. 55, where the apostle ecstatically exclaims, in 
view of a coming triumph, '^ death, where is thy 
sting? grave (hades), where is thy victory?^' It 
is a matter of divine revelation that the Eedeemer 
descended into hades, else his soul could never have 
been there ; and it is in reference to his victory over 
their powers that it is exclaimed, ^^ And having spoiled 
principalities and powers, he made a show of them 
openly, triumphing over them in it.'' Thus himself 
conquering, he obtained the right to open the gates 
of hades for others ; and this he means when he says, 
" I have the keys of hades and of death." The key 
is the symbol of power to open or shut. 



92 THE APOCALYPSE. 

Verse 19. ^' Write the things which thou hast seen, 
and the things which are, and the things which shall 
be hereafter.^^ 

This book of Revelation, we are informed in 
this verse, is to consist of three parts. 1. '^ The 
things thou hast seen." These are written in the 
first chapter — his vision of Christ in his glory. 2. 
"The things which are.'^ These are found in the 
immediately succeeding chapters — the letters to the 
fftngels of seven churches of Asia Minor. 3. " The 
things which shall be hereafter.'^ These are found 
from chapter iv. 1, to the end of the book. 

Verse 20. " The mystery of the seven stars which 
thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden 
candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the 
seven churches : and the seven candlesticks which 
thou sawest are the seven churches." 

Then follows the explanation : the meaning of the 
seven stars is, ^* the angels " (or pastors) " of the seven 
churches." ^' The seven candlesticks are the seven 
churches." Nothing can be more simple, plain, or 
literal than this statement; and all after references 
to either of these two objects here named and ex- 
plained, must be understood as symbolizing just what 
they are here declared to do. 



CHAPTER II. 93 

CHAPTER II. 

The Seven Letters. 

The last verse of the preceding chapter explains the 
mystery of the seven stars in the right hand of Christ, 
and of the seven golden candlesticks in the midst of 
which he walked, by saying, " The seven stars are the 
angels of the seven churches ; and the seven golden 
candlesticks are the seven churches. ^^ The term angel 
is here used for ^jas^or. Nor should we confound the 
star and candlestick, as is almost universally done 
by expositors ; for they are two distinct things. When 
Christ, therefore, addresses the angel of the church, 
whose symbol is a staVj he does not mean the church 
whose symbol is a golden candlesticJc, These seven 
letters are addressed to the stars, not the candlestichs ; 
to the angels' of the churches, and not the churches 
themselves. That tlie angels of the churches are the 
pastors will appear evident as we proceed with the 
examination of the letters. 

The visions of John were to be written in a book 
and sent to the churches as the Spirit^s testimony to 
them. But the letters were not given to him in 
vision, or, in other words, w^ere not what he saw, but 
instructions from Christ as to what John should write 
in his name to these seven angels or pastors, 

Christ wished to send a book to each of these seven 



a4 THE APOCALYPSE. 

churches, and so he instructed his servant John to 
write it, and told him what to write in it. But in 
sending a book to a church, it would be one of the 
most natural things in the world to send it to the care 
of the pastor, and while sending the book to his care 
for the church, to send to him a private and friendly 
letter, instructing him as to what was to be done with 
the book, and filled up with personal matters. 

With respect to the book and its testimony, Avhich 
was for the church, his instruction to each pastor 
was, ^^ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
Spirit saith to the churches,'^ in this book; for it is for 
all who will hear. 

The Ephesian Letter. 

Ve7^se 1. '• Unto the angel of the church of Ephe- 
sus, write: These things saith he that holdeth the 
seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the 
midst of the seven golden candlesticks.'^ 

So said He who " walketh in the midst of the seven 
golden candlesticks, and holds the stars in his right 
hand '^ — Jesus Christ. To this pastor he says, — 

Verses 2, 3. " I know thy works, and thy labor, 
and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them 
which are evil ; and thou hast tried them which say 
they are apostles, and are not; and hast found them 
liars. And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my 
name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.^' 

The personal pronouns thou and ^%, addressed to 



CHAPTER II. 95 

a pastor, can never be made to refer to a church for 
an antecedent. The works expressed are the works 
of the pastor, not of the church. It is in this way 
that Christ indicates his intense personal interest 
in and superintendence over those whom he had 
placed as under shepherds over the churches which 
by his divine providence have been organized on 
earth. Is it not another way of saying, ^^ I hold thee in 
my right hand''? I watch thy acts and mark thy 
words, and hold thee responsible for the good or in- 
jury those words or acts do to my cause ? So what 
follows is in reference to the administrative work of a 
pastor. ^^ Thou hast tried them which say they are 
apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.'' 
So far his pastoral work had the divine approval, and 
he has still words of praise for him. " And hast 
borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake 
hast labored, and hast not fainted." These qualities 
all meet with his unfeigned approbation, as being 
just what should distinguish the labors of a faith- 
ful pastor; but here the scene changes, and he is 
brought face to face with his faults, as seen by 
his Lord. 

Verse 4. '^ Nevertheless, I have somewhat against 
thee, because thou hast left thy first love." 

Trivial as this often appears to man, it was no small 
offense in the eyes of Him who seeth not as man seeth; 



96 THE APOCALYPSE. 

for it aflfected the integrity of the affections of one 
whose vows were upon him to be wholly the Lord's, de- 
voted body, soul, and spirit, given up in all the elements 
of his being to his service. But if it was a grievous 
offense eighteen hundred years ago in the pastor of 
the church of Ephesus, can it be any less now for any 
other pastor whom God has called to this responsible 
station? Evidently our Lord designed these seven 
pastors to furnish an example of his views with re- 
spect to all pastors in all time. What Jesus approved 
in him he will approve in all others, and what he 
disapproved in him he will in like manner disapprove 
in all others. And his exhortation to this pastor, in 
view of his fall, may well be considered as his exhor- 
tation to all others, who, like him, have allowed the fires 
of love kindled by the breath of divine love, to deaden 
into the smoldering embers of a cold formalism. 

Verse 5. " Remember therefore from whence thou 
art fallen, and repent, and do the first works ; or else 
I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy 
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." 

There can be no other duty for those who have 
fallen into the condition described. While the ser- 
vant of God remains in this condition he can not 
labor as God has designed him to labor. He can not 
with confidence ask the assistance of that Spirit 
whose voice is constantly reproving him of sin and 
exhorting him to repent. Every word of entreaty, 



CHAPTER II. 97 

every word of rebuke, every word of denunciation he 
utters, is echoed back, and he must hear God^s words 
to him. ^^ Therefore thou art inexcusable, man, 
whosoever thou art that judgest ; for wherein thou 
judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou 
that judgest doest the same things. '^ (Rom. ii. 1.) 
For the sake of the cause of Christ, as well as for his 
own sake, this is the first duty which he ow^es to' God. 
In the threat which follows we have the revelation 
of a truth which ought to inspire every servant of 
God with the utmost care and anxiety, and thus lead 
to the most perfect reliance upon God. " Or else I 
w^ill come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy 
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. '' 
This is a threat to remove the church for the fault of 
the pastor. The reason is apparent. " Like priest, 
like people.'^ A teacher can go no further than his 
own knowledge extends. The influence of the purest 
doctrines may be perverted by the greater influence 
of a corrupt example. Numberless have been the 
instances when through the departure of the pastor 
from the truth and from the fire of love, the whole 
church has been plunged into darkness, and finally 
involved in ruin. The threat has been fulfilled. The 
Churcli of Ejpliesus has ceased to exist."^ ^^ One who 
lately visited Ephesus found only three Christians 
there, and these so ignorant as scarcely to have heard 

* Trench, 

7 



98 THE APOCALYPSE. 

the names of St. Paul or St. John.'^ But there is one 
thing more for which he receives the divine approba- 
tion ; and that is, that he, like his Master, '* hates the 
deeds of the Nicolaitanes.^' What the deeds of the 
Nicolaitanes were is at present unknown, but doubt- 
less they were well known at that time. They are 
generally supposed to be, however, a plurality of wives, 
as taught by Nicolas, one of the seven deacons. 

Verse 7. " He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
the Spirit saith unto the churches : To him that over- 
cometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is 
in the midst of the paradise of God.'' 

This verse, as well as the corresponding pne in 
each of the seven letters, is Christ's instruction as 
to the use to be made of this book. ^^ He that hath 
an ear, let him hear." That is, let all who have 
an interest in future events attend to this revela- 
tion of them. So also, in the last part of the verse, 
a general promise is made, not to the pastor, not 
to the church, but to all men in all places and in 
all times. ^^ To him that overcometh will 1 give 
to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of 
the paradise of God." The word rendered ^^ gar- 
den of Eden " in English, is always rendered in the 
Septuagint paradise. In it originally grew the tree 
of life. But now it is transferred to the New Jeru- 
salem, which is the paradise or garden of God. Into 



CHAPTER II. 99 

it all who overcome and keep Christ's works to the 
end will have a right to enter, and eat of the tree of 
life. 

The Smyrxian Letter. 

Verse 8. ^' And unto the angel of the church in 
Smyrna, write : These things saith the first and the 
last, which was dead, and is alive." 

Christ addresses this, the second letter of the 
series, to that illustrious minister of his word, Poly- 
carp, pastor of the church in Smyrna. ^' And unto 
the angel of the church of Smyrna, write.'' This 
address is by Him who styles himself ^^ the first and 
the last," and who declares that he ^^ was dead and is 
alive." The letter is brief, but full of commendation 
of the one to whom it is addressed. ^' I know thy 
w^orks, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art 
rich)." The world called him poor, but they saw not 
as Christ saw. He called him rich. ^' Blessed are 
ye poor," he said long before this letter Vvas written, 
'^ for yours is the kingdom of heaven." Who can feel 
that they are poor in view of the riches of their 
Redeemer, and the promises made to them who 
through him are made the sons of God? ^* If sons, 
then heirs ; heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus 
Christ." '^ And I know the blasphemy of them which 
say they are Jews, and are not," &c. ^^ Ho is not a 
"Jew who is one outwardly," said Paul ; " but he is 
a Jew who is one inwardly." So, likewise, Christ 



100 THE APOCALYPSE. 

evidently regarded the matter, and declares the mere 
outwardly Jewish professors to belong to " the syna- 
gogue of Satan.'' The object of these words is to 
condemn those Jews w^io not only calumniated Poly- 
carp, but upon his martyrdom united their clamors 
with those of the heathen in demanding his death, 
and were personally active in hastening onward the 
awful tragedy. 

Verse 10. ^'Fear none of those things which thou 
shalt suffer ; behold, the devil shall cast some of you 
into prison, that ye may be tried : and ye shall have 
tribulation ten days ; be thou faithful unto death, and 
I will give thee a crovv^n of life.'' 

Both Polycarp and the church were to suffer, 
and hence Christ endeavored to fortify both him 
and them. The church suffered persecution, and 
Polycarp martyrdom. '^ Fear none of those things 
which thou shalt suffer;" this is addressed alone to 
Polycarp. ^^ Tlie devil shall cast some of you info 
prison^ that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribu- 
iation ten days ; ^^ this is addressed to the church. 
But ^^ be thou faithful unto death, and I will give 
thee a crown of life," are words addressed to Poly- 
carp. 

This man was a disciple of the apostle John, and 
heard from his lips the stor}^ of Christ ; and he was 
a cotemporary of Iren^eus, who had the narrativfe from 
Polycarp's mouth. He died at the age of one hun- 



CHAPTER IT. 101 

dred, after having served Christ eighty-six years. 
For the greater portion of his Christian life he was 
pastor of the church of Smyrna. He was bold in his 
opposition to heretics^ and tender toward the weak 
and feeble. ^^ To Marcion/' chief of the Doceta3, ^^ who 
denied the humanity of Christ, and rejected the Old 
Testament/^ &c., who met him one day and said, 
'^ Poly carp, own us,'' he replied, ^^ I do own you to 
be the first born of Satan." 

When arrested and brought before the proconsul, 
he was told, '^ Reproach Christ and I will release 
you." ^^ Eighty and six years have I served him, and 
he hath never wronged me ; and how can I blaspheme 
my King, who has saved me?" said Poly carp. '*! 
have wild beasts," said the proconsul. " Call them," 
was the intrepid reply. *^I will, tame your spirit 
with fire." ^' You threaten me with nre which burns 
for a moment and is soon extinct; but you are igno- 
rant of the future judgment, and of the fire of eternal 
punishment reserved for the ungodly. But why do 
you delay? Do what you please," said the martyr. 

Being brought to the stake he clasped his hands 
and said, ^^ Father," &c., ^^ I bless thee that thou 
hast counted me worthy of this day and of this hour, 
to receive my portion in the number of martyrs in 
the cup of Christ, for the resurrection to eternal life 
both of soul and body, in the incorrnption of the Holy 
Ghost," &c. Thus fell this blessed man of God, "faith- 



102 THE APOCALYPSE. 

ful unto death/' that he might receive " a crown of 
life.^' Concerning him the learned Archbishop Usher 
says, ^^ It is beyond all question that he was the angel 
of the church of Smyrna, to whom the Apocalyptical 
epistle was sent. 

To what extent the persecution of the church of 
Smyrna extended at the time of the martyrdom of 
Polycarp, we have no means of knowing; but judg- 
ing from the general account of his arrest, trial, and 
execution, it would not seem to have been long. 

Verse 11. ^' He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
the Spirit saith unto the churches ; He that over- 
cometh shall not be hurt of the second death.'' 

We have here the same instruction as to the use 
of the book sent to Smyrna, as that given to the 
other pastors, viz., that all who have an ear should 
hear w^hat the Spirit saith to the churches. As he 
who addresses this angel is the one who declares him- 
self to have been once dead, but now alive forever- 
more, so he promises to all who overcome, that they 
'^ shall not be hurt of the second death.'' 

The Pergamite Letter. 

Verse 12. ^^ And to the angel of the church in Per- 
gamos write: These things saith he which hath the 
sharp sword with two edges." 

So directed he who was seen walking in the midst 



CHAPTER II. 103 

of the seven golden candlesticks, out of whose mouth 
proceeded a sharp sword with two edges. The loord 
of Christ is described as a sharp two-edged sword, 
^'because it has a twofold bearing, a searching power 
so as to convict and convert some, and to convict and 
condemn to punishment others,'' as seen especially in 
. the following verses. 

Verse 13. ^^ I know thy works, and where thou 
dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest 
fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in 
those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, 
who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth." 

Dwelling in such a place, he well knew the grace 
his "servant needed to sustain him, and approved his 
course in holding fast the name of his Lord, and not 
denying his faith even in the midst of martyrdom, 
even in those days in which Antipas was slain. Who 
Antipas was is not known beyond what is here stated, 
that he was a faithful martyr of Pergamos. 

Vei'se 14. '^ But I have a few things against thee, 
because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine 
of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block 
before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed 
unto idols, and to commit fornication." 

Faithful as this man had been in maintaining his 
faith, Christ had a few things against him. 1. That 
he permitted those who held the doctrine of Balaam 
to have a place in the church. 



104 THE APOCALYPSE. 

Ferse 15. " So hast thou also them that hold the 
doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.'' 

So also, 2. He suffered those holding the Nico- 
laitane doctrine to remain in the church ; and this, 
whatever the doctrine was, was hateful to Christ. 

Verse 16. ^^ Repent; or else I will come unto thee 
quickly, and will fight against them with the sword 
of my mouth." 

These otfenses were of such magnitude that, unless 
repented of, his master, who announced himself as 
having the sharp sword, threatened to come to him 
quickly, and '^ fight against them with the sword of his 
mouth." This is a lesson to be remembered by all 
pastors — that they are set for the defense of the gos- 
pel, and that Christ holds them responsible to the 
extent of their ability to keep the church pure in 
faith and in practice, and that negligence of the 
interests of Christ's cause is sure to be visited with 
ithe severest reprehension. 

Verse 17. ^' He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
the Spirit saith unto the churches ; To him that over- 
cometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and 
will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new 
name written, which no man knoweth saving he that 
receiveth UJ^ 

The same charge in reference to the revelations of 
the Spirit to the churches is given to this minister as 
to the others : ^^ He that hath an ear, let him hear." 



CHAPTER IT. 105 

*-To the overcomer is made the promise of eating the 
hidden manna. This is spoken in reference to the 
golden pot of manna laid up in the ark of the cove- 
nant as a sample of what Israel subsisted on in the 
wilderness, and as the food of angels. We can not, 
in view of Christ^s reference to this very thing in 
John vi. 31-35, as applying to himself, but regard this 
as in some way referring to the fruition of eternal life 
through him, given in the resurrection — a feasting 
upon its joys and sweets. Says a recent commen- 
tator, ''' As the manna hidden in the sanctuary was by 
divine power preserved from corruption, so Christ in 
his incorruptible body has passed into the heavens, 
and is hidden there until the time of his appearing. 
Christ himself is the manna hidden from the world, 
but revealed to the believer, so that he has already a 
foretaste of his preciousness. The full manifestation 
shall be at his coming. The glory of believers is now 
hidden, even as their meat is hidden. As the manna 
in the sanctuary, unlike the other manna, was incor- 
ruptible, so the spiritual dainties for Christ are ever- 
lasting ; an incorruptible body and life forever in 
Christ at the resurrection.'^ 

So also he that overcomes is promised a white stone 
with a new name in it; a name unknown to any save 
the recipient. This is undoubtedly spoken in refer- 
ence to one of the stones worn by the high priest in 
his breastplate ; by which, in some way appointed by 



106 THE APOCALYPSE. 

God, he ascertained the divine will. On it was writ- 
ten some incommunicable name, known only by the 
high priest — a name supposed to have been that of 
Jehovah. So this stone has a name written in it — 
a name known only to him that receiveth it — a name 
of Christ. 

The Thyatiran Letter. 

Verse 18. ^'And unto the angel of the chur.ch in 
Thyatira write : These things saith the Son of God, 
who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his 
feet are like fine brass.'' 

This angel of the church of Thyatira is addressed 
by the ^^ Son of God '' in name and person, so that 
there is no room left for doubt as to the being of the 
one symbolized by ^^ one like unto the Son of Man,'' 
spoken of in the first chapter. 

Verse 19. "I know thy works, and charity, and 
service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; 
and the last to be more than the first." 

^^ The Son of God " declares to the angel of the 
church of Thyatira that he knows his w^orks, love, 
faith, patience, and labors, and that they were increas- 
ing, so that ^nhe last were more than the first" — a 
record of faithfulness which any minister might desire? 
and, which possessing, might well suppose to have 
been all required by the Lord j but Christ's words 
do not terminate here. ^ 



CHAPTER II. 107 

Verse 20. " Notwithstanding, I have a few things 
against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jeze- 
bel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and 
to seduce ray servants to commit fornication, and to 
eat things sacrificed unto idols.'^ 

After all this praise Christ is compelled to utter 
words of reproof and blame. ^^ I have a few things 
against thee,'^ for suffering ^^ that woman Jezebel to 
teach and to seduce my servants." 1. ^^ To commit forni- 
cation." 2. *^To eat things sacrificed to idols. ^^ These 
are' inexcusable offenses in a minister or pastor. Who 
this woman was, any further than is here stated, we 
know not. Whether Jezebel was her proper name, 
or whether it was used because of her being so like 
Jezebel, the wife of king Ahab, we can not tell. But 
she professed to be a prophetess, and to teach these 
abominable things by the authority of divine inspira- 
tion. 

Verse 21. "And I gave her space to repent of her 
fornication, and she repented not." 

She was willfully perverse ; not ignorant of the 
truth, nor unwarned. The Son of God had dealt 
leniently with her; he had waited for her to repent 
of her deceits and her filthiness, and turn to him ; but 
all in vain. 

Verse 22. " Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and 
them that commit adultery with her into great tribu- 
lation, except they repent of their deeds.'^ 



108 THE APOCALYPSE, 

Now comes the threat, " Behold, I will cast her into 
a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into 
great tribulation, except they repent.'^ He does not 
even, after so long endurance, shut the door of mercy 
against either her or her paramours. 

Verse 23. '^ And I will kill her children with death ; 
and all the churches shall know that I am he which 
searcheth the reins and hearts : and I will give unto 
every one of you according to your works.'' 

He still further threatens her with the death of her 
children. The object of these inflictions is said to be 
that their fate might serve as a warning to all the 
churches, that they might know that he is not an 
uninterested spectator of their character and doings. 
He who has eyes like a flame of fire is the one who 
addresses this angel ; and those piercing eyes search 
the reins and hearts of men, to give to every one 
according to his deeds. 

Verse 24. '' But unto you I say, and unto the rest 
in Thyatira, As many as have not this doctrine, and 
which have not known the depths of Satan, as they 
speak, I will put upon you none other burden.'' 

The division between this and the twenty-fifth verse 
renders the meaning of this passage somewhat per- 
plexing and confused. If the first clause of verse 
25 were included in verse 24, the idea would be more 
complete. Thus : " But unto you I say, and to the 
rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, 



CHAPTER II. 109 

and which have not known the depths of Satan, as 
they speak, I will lay upon you none other burden 
than that which ye have/^ 

Verse 25. '' Hold fast till I come/' 

The burden which these excepted ones had to bear 
was a heavy and grievous one — to witness such a cor- 
ruption in the nanae of religion, and to be unable to 
correct it. But the Savior encouraged them to hold 
fast their integrity, notwithstanding the severity of 
the trial, until he should come to deliver them and 
put away the evil. This is a duty devolving on all 
who are called upon to suffer, it matters not in what 
way, as long as they know they are walking near to 
Christ. Because of apostasies, that faith which makes 
alive should never be abandoned ; because of evil re- 
port and reproach brought by erring brethren, we 
dare not abandon a hope begotten within by the Holy 
Ghost. God gave it : our duty is to hold it fast till 
he comes. 

Verse 26. '^ And he that overcometh, and keepeth 
my works unto the end, to him will I give power over 
the nations.'' 

The promise to the overcomers held out in this 
letter is very glorious. *^ I will give power over the 
nations.'' This is one of Christ's prerogatives, held 
out to him by his Father in the second psalm : " Ask 
of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine in- 



110 THE APOCALYPSE. 

heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy 
possession.'' This dominion is to be shared in joint 
proprietorship by the overcomers. 

Verse 27. '' And he shall rule them with a rod of 
iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken 
to shivers ; even as I received of my Father.'' 

Here is a sure, perfect, and glorious triumph pred- 
icated for Christ on the authority of God's word; a 
power to rule over and break those who vainly thought 
^^ to break their bands asunder and cast away their 
cords from them ; " a power which shall change the 
derisive shouts of ^^ mocking soldiers bowing down " 
into laments and wails of sorrow at the sight of the 
victorious Lord, once cast out of Jerusalem in scorn 
and hate, returning as earth's glorious deliverer and 
everlasting king, before the wave of whose scepter 
" every knee shall bow," and *^ every tongue confess " 
that he is Christ, " to the glory of God the Father." 
It is a participation of his saints in this glorious 
triumph as one with Christ, sharers in his sufferings 
and death, which is comprehended in this wonderful 
promise. How encouraging to keep the work of 
Christ to the end, that we may be associated in his 
triumph at the last ! 

Verse 28. " And I will give him the morning star." 

This is an obscure promise. Christ calls himself 
the ^^ morning star " in chapter xxii. 16. Probably he 



CHAPTER III. Ill 

assumes this name because of his first rising to glory 
and immortality. May not this promise embrace the 
same thought, and mean that these overcomers shall 
be embraced in the hundred and forty-four thousand 
of first fruits unto God and the Lamb, who shall act as 
the glorious body-guard of Christ in his work of 
triumph? Chapter xiv. 1-5. 

Verse 29. ^' He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
the Spirit saith unto the churches.'^ 

The same charge is here given as to all the other 
pastors. 

CHAPTER III. 

The Sardian Letter. 

Vei'-ses 1-6. " And unto the angel of the church in 
Sardis write ; These things saith he that hath the 
seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars ; I know thy 
w^orks, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art 
dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which 
remain, that are ready to die : for I have not found thy 
works perfect before God. Eemember therefore how 
thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and re- 
pent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come 
on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour 
I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even 
in Sardis which have not defiled their garments ; and 
they shall walk with me in white : for they are worth3\ 
He hath overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white 
raiment ; and I wdll not blot out his name out of the 
book of lifC; but I will confess his name before my 



112 THE APOCALYPSE. 

Father and before his angels. He that hath an 
ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the 
churches.'' 

The character in which Christ addresses this pastor 
is as one who ^^ hath the seven spirits of God, and the 
seven stars.'' The seven archangels are thus claimed 
by Christ to be under his control, or as belonging to 
his hierarchy. Thus *^the seven spirits" and "the 
seven stars" combine to form representatives of the 
perfect lordship of heaven and earth — the one per- 
fect head of all the universe of God. " For by him 
were all thing^s created that are in heaven and that 
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be 
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. 
All things were created by him and for him." 

What he claims to know of this minister's works is, 
that he has " a name to live, and is dead." The church 
and the world were sadly deceived in his character. 
But there were some signs of life remaining, which 
were about expiring, and which could only be saved 
by immediate attention to them, and giving them 
strength. His works had not been found perfect be- 
fore God at any time. Unless he heeded this exhor- 
tation to watchfulness, Christ threatens to come on 
him as a thief; that is, suddenly and unexpectedly to 
punish him. But he is encouraged by the assurance 
that a few faithful ones remained in Sardis, who shall 
walk with Jesus in white. 



CHAPTER III. 113 

To the overcomers are promised, in this letter, three 
things : 1. ^^ They shall be clothed in white raiment.'' 
2. ^> Christ will not blot out his name from the book 
of life.^^ 3. The Savior " will confess his name in the 
presence of his Father and in the presence of his 
angels. ^^ 

Again follows the same charge as to the importance 
of hearing "what the Spirit saith to the churches.^' 
The iteration and reiteration of this charge can not 
fail to suggest the degree of importance our glorified 
Redeemer and coming King seems to attach to the 
study and comprehension of this last book of the 
canon of revelation. Yet how few heed it ! How 
many turn away with indifference from the grand 
panoramic series of events about to characterize the 
closing up of earth^s long night of sin, and the intro- 
duction of the glorious and endless day of perfect 
sight ! We can not but regard this indifference with 
surprise and pain, and indeed as, in view of these 
constant charges, really sinful in its nature. 

The Philadelphian Letter. 

Verses 1-13. "And to the angel of the church in 
Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, 
he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that 
openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no 
man openeth ; I know thy works : behold, I have set 
before thee an open door, and no man can shut it : for 

8 



114 THE APOCALYPSE. 

thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, 
and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make 
them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are 
Jews, and are not, bat do lie; behold, 1 will make 
them to come and worship before thy feet, and to 
know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept 
the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from 
the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the 
world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, 
I come quickly : hold that fast which thou hast, that 
no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I 
make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall 
go no more out : and I will write upon him the name 
of my God, and the name of the city of my God, loliicli 
is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven 
from my God: and I ivill lorite upon him my new 
name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
Spirit saith unto the churches.'' 

Christ here represents himself in four aspects. 1. 
*^ As the holy one.'' 2. As *^he that is true.'' 3. As 
the one '^ that hath the key of David." 4. As he 
" that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and 
no man openeth." When David's house was closed, 
and God pronounced the sentence, ^^ I will overturn, 
overturn, overturn it " (Ezek. xxi. 27), and it was to 
be opened ^^ no more until he came whose right it is " 
had come, it was to be given to him. By saying, ^^ I 
have the key of David," he claims that he alone can 
restore the fallen house and throne, and bring back 
again the diadem kept in store for its glorious owner. 

By these high titles he addresses the pastor of this 



CHAPTER III. 115 

church, and declares himself acquamted with his 
works, as of all others. '^ He that is holy, he that 
is true, he that hath the key of David, he who openeth 
and no man shutteth/' informs this man that he has an 
open door before him, which shall remain open, giving 
as a reason, ^' for thou hast a little strength, and hast 
kept my word, and hast not denied my name.'^ For 
these reasons those false pretenders "which sayihey 
are Jews and are not, but do lie,'^ should come and 
w^orship before his feet — not worship him, for that 
would be idolatry ; but worship God at his feet ; 
and they should know the fact that Christ had loved 
him. 

" The hour of temptation '' here spoken of was 
probably one of those general persecutions waged by 
the Eoman emperors over all the olxovutvrjj the 
Roman dominion, to try the saints. But from this 
temptation, on account of his faithfulness, this man 
was to be kept. 

" Behold, I come quickly.-' This word, Taxv^ ren- 
dered quickly in the English version, would be better 
translated " suddenly. '^ This is equally warranted by 
the meaning and use of the word, and by the general 
teachings of Christ and his apostles as to the sudden- 
ness with which he will come in the clouds of heaven. 
QuicMy conveys the idea of a short time from this, 
while suddenly imports the sudden manner of his 



116 THE APOCALYPSE. 

coming whenever it does take place. For this reason 
we prefer the rendering of suddenly^ wherever this 
word occurs in a like connection in this book. 

The important exhortation to hold fast, that no one 
should take the crown designed for him at Christ's 
coming, is an advice equally applicable to us all. 

The promises here made to the overcomers are : 
1. "J will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, 
and he never shall go out.'' That is, in the great 
spiritual temple, which is growing toward perfection 
here, to be completed in the other world, when shall 
be ^^ brought forth the headstone thereof with shout- 
ings, crying, Grace, grace unto it " (Zech. iv. 7) : these 
overcomers shall be set as pillars in posts of honor 
and glory. 2. " I will write upon him the name of 
my God, and the name of the city of my God, new 
Jerusalem.'' 3. " I will write upon him my new 
name." Thus are his titles to all the joys of eternity 
assured beyond the shadow of a doubt — a right to 
be forever regarded as God's children ; a right to a 
habitation in the new Jerusalem ; and an eternal unity 
with Christ. Thus does God counterbalance the evils 
with the good he promises ; thus does he show us the 
meaning of the assurance he has given us that "these 
light afflictions, which last but for a moment, work out 
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory." 



CHAPTER in. 117 

Then the epistle closes with the commendation of 
the Spirit's testimony to the churches, as found in this 
book, ^^ to eveiy one who hath an ear.'' 

The Laodicean Letter. 

Vei^ses 14-21. ^^And unto the angel of the church 
of the Laodiceans write ; These things saith the 
Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning 
of the creation of God ; I know thy works, that thou 
art neither cold nor hot; 1 would thou wert cold or 
hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither 
cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Be- 
cause thou say est, I am rich, and increased with goods, 
and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou 
art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and 
naked, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the 
fire, that thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment, that 
thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy 
nakedness do not appear ; and anoint thine eyes with 
eye-salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, 
I rebuke and chasten : be zealous therefore, and re- 
pent. Behold, I stand'at the door, and knock. If any 
man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in 
to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To 
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my 
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down 
with my Father in his throne." 

The characteristics by which Christ describes him- 
self to this angel are, 1. '' The Amen; " the confirmer 
of all that God has said, and the pledge of the fulfill- 
ment of all his words. 2. '^ The faithful and true wit- 
ness." This title harmonizes with the former, " the 



118 • THE APOCALYPSE. 

Amen/' and also with the following address. " As the 
Amen'' expresses the unchangeable truth of his prom- 
ises, so " the faithful and true witness/' the truth of his 
revelations as to the things he has seen and testified. 
3. ^' The beginning of the creation of God." The word 
ctQXV^ translated heginning, in this verse has a more 
proper rendering in the word begiJiner, as translated 
by Professor N. N. Whiting. ^^Not he whom God 
created first, but as in Col. i. 15-18, the beginner of 
all creation, its originating instrument. All creation 
would not, could not, be represented as adoring him 
if he was one of themselves."'^ 

His knowledge of this angel is, 1. That he is luke- 
warm. 2. That he makes false representations of him- 
self by saying that he is rich and increased in goods, 
and has need of nothing ; whereas Christ discovers 
him to be entirely the reverse of this, — ^^ wretched, 
miserable, poor, blind, naked." For all these evils Christ 
prescribes a remedy. 1. '^ Buy of me gold tried in the 
fire, that thou mayest be rich." 2. ^' Buy of me white 
raiment, that thou mayest be clothed." 3. " Buy of 
me eye-salve, that thou mayest see." So that, bad as 
was the case of the pastor, it was not beyond remedy. 
On the contrary, if he would obey the instructions 
here given, it was very hopeful. His master did not 
speak thus sharply to him because he was angry, but 

♦ Fausgett. 



CHAPTER III. • 119 

because of his love for him. ^^ As many as I love I 
rebuke and chasten.^^ Why then should he not be 
zealous^ and repent of his pride and lukewarmness, 
and secure his Master's approval, and receive him as 
his guest, that they might feast togetiier? And what 
was for him is for all others in a like condition. 

The great promise here made to the overcomers is 
to sit with Christ on his throne, as he for the same 
reason now sits with his Father upon his throne. 
Thus the throne of Christ is here shown to be still 
future. He still occupies that position taken by him 
when God said to him, ^' Sit thou at my right hand 
until 1 make thine enemies thy footstool.^' This posi- 
tion he leaves only when he goes forth to glorify his 
saints and subdue his foes, and on the ruins of earth's 
fallen dynasties erects forever the fallen tabernacles 
of David. Again, for the seventh time, the charge is 
reiterated to him that " hath an ear, let him hear what 
the Spirit saith to the churches.'' 

The Nature of the Seven Letters. 

The foregoing exposition accepts the letters to the 
seven angels as expressing literally the state of things 
then existing in regard to the character and adminis- 
tration of the seven men who were then pastors of 
those seven churches. All is natural and easy when 
regarded in this light. But every attempt to allege- 



120 * THE APOCALYPSE. 

rize the seven churches (not one of which is addressed 
in these letters), and make them represent the church 
of Christ under seven distinct periods of the Christian 
dispensation, plunges us at once into confusion and 
uncertainty. If there is any such design in the 
letters, it is the angels of the churches, and not the 
churches themselves, who are the representatives ; 
and all interpretations based on the hypothesis that it 
is the churches which are addressed are unfounded, 
and must, if the theory is true at all, be re-written on 
the true basis. 

The approvals, disapprovals, reproofs, and exhorta- 
tions, together with the criticisms of Christ on the 
pastoral administration of these ministers, as also his 
indications of the order in the churches which he 
approves or disapproves, are so many lessons of in- 
struction for all ministers of the gospel to observe, in 
all ages. And thus these letters are of importance to 
the whole church in all time. 

Let the reader, then, keep in mind that the seer 
was to write his book under three heads — the tilings 
tlioic hast see7ij the things which are^ and the things 
tuhich shall be hereafter. Then he will see recorded in 
the first chapter, what John had seen ; in the second 
and third, existing things ; and in the fourth and on- 
ward, the things to come after these — the scenes of 
the day of the Lord. 



CHAPTER IV. " 121 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Organization of the Judgment Court and 
Opening of the Judgment Day. 

Verses 1-5. After this I looked, and behold, a door 
ivas opened in heaven: and the first voice which I 
heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me ; 
which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee 
things which must be hereafter. And immediately I 
was in the Spirit: and behold, a throne was set in 
heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat 
was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone : 
and there loos a rainbow round about the throne in 
sight like unto an emerald. And round about the 
throne were four and twenty seats ; and upon the seats 
I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white 
raiment ; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and 
thunderings, and voices. And there were seven lamps 
of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven 
spirits of God.'^ 

This chapter opens a new scene, the third class of 
events of which the seer was commanded to write, 
" The things which shall be hereafter.'' The opening 
of this scene was laid in heaven, whither John was 
called, and went in sjoirit. ^^ Come up hither," said the 
voice, as a door was opened in heaven. ^* Imme- 
diately," he says, *'* I was in spirit " out of the body, 
entranced. The scene he saw was " a throne set in 
heaven" and God the Father seated on it; the scene 



122 THE APOCALYPSE. 

here being the same as that described by Daniel in 
the seventh chapter of his prophecy, where he saw 
the " Ancient of Days '^ seated on his throne as supreme 
judge. 

This muat not be regarded as an ordinary scene, or 
the normal state of heaven ; for the promise to the 
seer was to show him things which must be hei^eafter. 
So that, whatever they were, they were to follow the 
time when he had this vision, about A. D. 96. Noth- 
ing can be taken back of that period. This is an 
important point gained in the interpretation of the 
Apocalypse. The chronology of the vision is to be 
fixed by collating it with Dan. vii. 9, 10. The prophet 
had described the four beasts, the symbols of the four 
kingdoms of earth. In describing th*e fourth beast, 
he said, ^^ And the beast had ten horns,"-and "among 
them there came up another little horn, that had eyes 
as the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great 
things.'' After the rise of these horns, — not before, — 
and while the little horn is speaking his great words, 
this judgment is introduced. "I beheld until the 
thrones were cast down," or, as critics affirm, " firmly 
set,'' for the judgment to begin ; " and the Ancient of 
Days'did sit." That is, God the Father took his seat 
of judgment. But he does not sit alone, for there are 
thrones, implying associate judges, as well as the one 
supreme judge. And this is illustrated in the chapter 
under consideration; the fourth of Revelation, where 



CHAPTER IV. 123 

the twenty-four thrones are introduced as surrounding 
the throne of God, which thrones are filled by twenty- 
four elders, clothed in white robes and wearing golden 
crowns. 

But it is before this court, as described by Daniel, 
that the Son of. Man is brought and introduced, and 
receives his royal investiture over all kingdoms and 
dominions, world without end. 

It is also in this court described by Daniel ^^ the 
judgment was set and the books were opened.'^ The 
passages, then, are evidently parallel, referring to the 
same time and event. 

The ^^ thunderings, lightnings, and voices '' proceed- 
ing out of the throne are symbols of judgment. The 
seven spirits "of God which wait before the throne 
are there as if in readiness to hear and execute the 
orders of the heavenly court. These are assigned to 
the Lamb as his messengers, and are then represented 
as seven horns of the Lamb, instead of the seven lamps 
before the throne. It is as horns of the Lamb that tli^y 
are sent forth into all the earth (ch. v., vi.). Thus they 
constitute Christ^s hierarcliy^ or heavenly dignitaries. 

Verses 6-11. " And before the throne there was a 
sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of 
the throne, and round about the throne, ivere four 
beasts full of eyes, before and behind. And the first 
beast loas like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, 
and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth 
beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts 



124 THE APOCALYPSE. 

had each of them six wings about him; and they were 
full of eyes within : and they rest not day and night, 
saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which 
was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts 
give glory, and honor, and thanks to him that sat on 
the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four 
and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the 
throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, 
and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou 
art worthy, Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and 
power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy 
pleasure they are and were created.^' 

The crystalline sea before the throne is no doubt 
the pattern from which Moses was directed to form 
the brazen sea to accompany the tabernacle in the 
wilderness ; for it, the tabernacle, was patterned after 
the heavenly things in all its parts. 

The four beasts described in this passage have 
been commented on to a large extent, and various 
have been the solutions of the mystery of their being, 
identity, and work. They are identical with the sera- 
phim described in the sixth of Isaiah. They, too, are 
attendants on the throne of God, as are the twenty-four 
elders, and seem to be a part of the court. Both 
elders and seraphim (living creatures we will call 
them, for such the word Q^'^v signifies), as we shall 
learn in chapter v., are in this court as representatives 
of the saints ; they constitute two orders, or houses, 
but mostly act jointly in the part which they have to 
perform. The general separate part which they enact 



CHAPTER IV. 125 

is, to proclaim continually the holiness of the Al- 
mighty, — precisely the same employment in which 
Isaiah saw them engaged, as described in the sixth 
chapter of his prophecy. Then they stood above the 
throne of God; now, when the judgment sits, they 
surround the throne in the midst of the circle of 
elders, sitting in assize. What the meaning of the 
differing faces is, or of their being full of eyes, &c., 
we, probably, shall never comprehend until we are 
taught of God in a better state than this; and so we 
leave them as they are here revealed. 

Both living creatures and elders unite in giving 
glory, and honor, and thanks to him that sitteth on the 
throne ; the elders worshiping him and casting their 
crowns before his throne in token of their most per- 
fect subjection. They unite also in ascribing to him 
who occupies the supreme throne, worthiness to pre- 
side there, because he is the originator of the uni- 
verse ; the one for whose pleasure all things exist 
and were created. These elders seem to be human, 
and are probably some of those who came from the 
graves after Christ's resurrection. 

Such is the constitution of the supreme court which 
is to adjudicate and adjust, on principles of the strict- 
est equity, the affairs of this world, and introduce a 
new and better state of things. 

The judicial arrangements being thus completed, 
the executive department is the next to be arranged, 



126 THE APOCALYPSE. 

and this is presented to us in the next chapter. As 
we proceed with its consideration we shall see that it, 
too, corresponds with the prophecy of Daniel (seventh 
chapter), where the Son of Alan is invested with exec- 
utive power by the court, and that power is to be 
" forever and ever." So also we shall find it in the 
next chapter. 

CHAPTER V. 

Introduction, Election, and Investiture of Christ 
WITH Executive Authority. 

Verses 1-5. " And I saw in the right hand of him 
that sat on the throne a book written within and on 
the back side, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a 
strong angel, proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is 
worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals there- 
of? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither 
under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to 
look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was 
found worthy to open and to read the book, neither 
to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, 
Weep not : behold the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the 
Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and 
to loose the seven seals thereof.'^ 

When God first created man, he invested him in 
due form with the universal dominion of earth and all 
its creatures, as well as those in its air and sea. All, 
all, were placed under him, and thus he became earth^s 
monarch, invested by God with the right to rule. So 



CHAPTER V. 127 

also will the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, the 
Son of Man, be invested with the same power and 
rights. Thus we read, ^^ For unto the angels hath he 
not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we 
speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, 
^ What is man, that thou art mindful of him or the 
Son of Man, that thou visitest him?' Thou madest 
him a little lower than the angels ; thou crownedst 
him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the 
works of thy hands ; thou hast put all things in sub- 
jection under his feet. For in that he put all in sub- 
jection under him, he left nothing that is not put 
under him. But now w^e see not yet all things put 
under him.'' Hebrews ii. 3-8. 

The scene of this chapter opens in heaven, as in the 
one preceding it, which we have considered. The 
same throne, the same occupant, the same elders, and 
same living creatures, are all present to attend on the 
business of the court. The presiding judge holds in 
his hand a sealed book, sealed with seven seals. This 
seems to be full of writing within and on its back, and 
its contents, as we learn on the opening of the seals, 
are the judgments or findings of the court, to be exe- 
cuted by authority of the Lamb. The question, who 
will take the book, open the seals, and learn and 
execute these findings, comes before the court ; and a 
herald angel is sent out to make proclamation with 
a loud voice, through the universe, for a man com- 



128 THE APOCALYPSE. 

petent to do this work, and returns with the report, l| 
that no man either in heaven or earth, or in the under ^ 
world, is worthy or competent to undertake or ex- 1 
ecute it. So that the wdiole proceeding seems about 
to be stayed for the want of such an one. The intense ' 
interest of the seer caused him to weep profusely be- 
cause of this failure. At this point one of the twenty- ' 
four elders comforts him by introducing '^ the Lion of 
the tribe of Juda '^ as one worthy of the task, and 
competent to perform it. 

Verses 6, 7. " And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of 
the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of 
the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having 
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven 
spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he 
came and took the book out of the right hand of him 
that sat upon the throne.' ' 

We can not do better than here give the reader the 
benefit of the eloquent comments of Rev. Dr. Seiss on 
this passage : " He who appears here as a Lamb is 
the same whom the elder had just described as a Lion. 
The two titles might seem to be incongruous. What 
more opposite than the monarch of the forest, in 
strength and majesty, inflicting terror and death, and 
the lamb, in its uncomplaining meekness, in the hands 
of the sacrificer? But the two pictures do not con- 
flict. They supplement each other, and combine to 
bring out what could not be otherwise so well por- 



CHAPTER V. 129 

frayed, and yet what the nature of the case required. 
The opening of the seals is an act of strength — an 
exploit of war — a going forth of power to take pos- 
session of a kingdom. As one after another is broken, 
out flies a strong one in fierce assault upon the ene- 
mies and usurpers w^ho occupy the earth. There is 
terror and destruction at every successive movement. 
And in the accomplishment of this, Christ is a lion, 
clothed with power, and majesty, and terribleness. 
But the character in which he overcame, and became 
in that respect qualified for this work, and that in 
which he presents himself before the throne as a can- 
didate to be adjudged worthy to do it, is that of the 
sacrificial lamb, who had innocently and meekly suf- 
fered, bearing our sins in his own body, and vanquish- 
ing all legal disabilities by his atoning blood. It is 
in the character of a lamb that was slain, w^ho over- 
come by his perfect obedience unto death, and who 
paid the price of redemption in his meek sufferings, 
that he is adjudged ^^ worthy to take the book, and to 
open the seals of it.'' It is by his sacrifice as a lamb 
slain that he comes to the further qualifications for 
the further office of a lion, to assert and enforce his 
supremacy. So, as the conquering lamb, ho takes the 
book from the hands of him that sitteth on the throne, 
that he may open the seals, and lion-like go forth to 
his conquests. 
9 



130 THE APOCALYPSE. 

Verses 8-10. ^' And when he had taken the book, 
the four beasts, and four and twenty elders fell down 
before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and 
golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of 
saints. And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art 
worthy to take the book, and to open the seals there- 
of: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God 
by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
people, and nation ; and hast made us unto our God 
kings and priests : and we shall reign on the earth.^^ 

The same beings, elders and living creatures, who 
declared the Father worthy to preside in the court, 
now fall before the Lamb, on his assumption of the 
sealed book, and cast their suffrages for him as the 
executor of the court's findings. 

Both classes are furnished with harps, for their suf- 
frage is to be given in song. '^They sang a new 
song.'' They also have, each of them, '^ golden vials 
full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints ; " 
so the}^ appear there to represent, not themselves, but 
the expressed wishes of the saints, and utter them in 
song. From the common version no other idea can 
be gained than that they represent themselves in 
their ode, — ^^ Hast redeemed us/^ " and made us unto 
our God kings and priests." But clearly the living 
creatures are not of human kind ; and yet they, as well 
as the elders, join in the song. The revised reading 
of the American Bible Union gives this, as being, 
after all their research, in their judgment the best 



CHAPTER Y. 131 

sustained: ^' Thou wast slain^ and didst redeem to 
God by thy blood out of every tribe, and tongue, and 
people, and nation ; and didst make them [thus re- 
deemed] unto our God a kingdom and priests, and 
they shall reign on the earth.*' 

This relieves us from the difficulty of making the 
seraphim classify themselves among the redeemed by 
Christ's blood, and makes both classes representative 
characters speaking for the saints. Their unanimous 
consent is given for the slain Lamb to proceed with 
the executive work. They being representatives of 
saints at that court, all saints are bound by their 
action. 

The Angelic Suffrage. 

Verses 11, 12. "And I beheld, and I heard the 
voice of many angels round about the throne, and 
the beasts, and the elders; and the number of them 
was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands 
of thousands, Saying with a loud voice. Worthy is the 
Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and 
wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and bless- 
ing.'' 

The elders and living ones having given their suf- 
frages for the Lamb as the one who is worthy of this 
high function, all the angelic host next file into court 
and surround the whole group ; God the Father on 
the throne, the Lamb in the midst of the four living 
ones, and the circle of four and twenty elders seated 
on their thrones surrounding and enclosing the others ; 



132 THE APOCALYPSE. 

and these, too, pronounce the verdict thus given, just 
and good, saying, ^^ Worthy is the Lamb that was 
slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, 
and strength, and honor, and blessing.^' 

Here we pause, because so compelled by the com- 
mon English version. But if we follow the Syriac, the 
earliest translation ever made from the Greek, we 
shall not make a full pause, as at the end of a sentence. 
The Syriac reads, ^^ and to receive the power, and 
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and 
blessing; and [to be over] (Verse 13) every created 
thing which is in the heaven, and in the earth, and 
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all 
that are in them. And I heard the one who sitteth 
upon the throne saying, And unto the Lamb be the 
blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the power, 
for ever and ever.'' 

Verse 14. ^* And the four beasts said. Amen. And 
the four and twenty elders fell down and worshiped 
him that liveth for ever and ever.'' 

*^ And the four living creatures said Amen: and the 
elders fell down and adored." Thus living ones, 
elders, and angels are of one accord in pronouncing 
the Lamb worthy of this high honor of more than 
filling the place of the first Adam ; and he who sits 
upon the throne of this high court, God the Father, 
pronounces the judgment of investiture, according to 
the unanimous verdict of the gathered court. 



CHAPTER V. 133 

But this Syriac rendering is not without its diffi- 
culty. It is not justified by any known Greek manu- 
script. What manuscripts they had, which we have 
not, we do not know; but doubtless they had what 
they regarded as good authority for the rendering 
they gave. Another rendering, differing somewhat 
from the Syriac, and which is justified by the Greek 
text, is as follows ; it is in part the rendering of the 
Syriac : " And [to be over] every created thing which 
is in the heaven, and in the earth, and under the 
earth, and such as are upon the sea, and the things in 
them.'' "And I heard all [elders, living ones, and 
angels] saying to him who sitteth upon the throne, 
And [let there be] unto the Lamb the blessing, and 
the honor, and the glory, and the power, for ever and 
ever.'' 

This invocation by the attendants on the throne is 
in accordance with what they had already declared 
the Lamb to be worthy. " And the four living ones 
said, Amen. And the elders fell down and wor- 
shipped." 

To the present translation we have many objections, 
the principal one of which, however, will suffice. 
Undoubtedly as thei rendering now stands in our com- 
mon English version, there would seem to be implied 
a universal confession of Christ, and ascriptions of 
glory, honor, and praise to him, as the one who was 
slain; and that at a time when the whole earth is 



134 THE APOCALYPSE. 

evidently filled with deceit, hatred, malice, murder, 
and open rebellion against the very one whom they 
are thus made to honor. A glance at the chronology 
of this event will show us that it occurs at a period 
prior to the opening of even the first of the seals of 
the book taken from the hand of Jehovah, and when, 
as yet, not the first act of judgment has transpired as 
coming under those seals. So it must be clearly per- 
ceived that the period can not be subsequent to the 
last great day, and hence, that the theory of a ^^ clean 
universe '' is shorn of its strength. Most expositors 
explain it on the same principle on which David calls 
on all creatures and all the elements to join in praise 
to God. '(Psalm cxlviii.) But this seems to be a forced 
construction. The translation, as we have indicated 
above, perfectly relieves the passage of embarrass- 
ment. 

The Lamb being thus invested with this high 
authority, by the august court composed of all known 
holy intelligences, is to occupy the place of the first 
Adam as supreme head of all created things, and here 
receives the gift promised him with such strong as- 
surances in the second Psalm. 



CHAPTER YI. 135 

CHAPTER YI. 

The Opening of the Seals. 

This chapter imfolds, or commences the unfolding 
of the executive judgments. If chapters four and five 
are correctly interpreted as representing the judicial 
and executive departments of the day of judgment, 
then chapter six unfolds the executive proceeding. 

We learn from the seventh chapter of Daniel that 
it is while the judgment is in session in heaven that 
the little horn, to whom times, and laws, and saints are 
subjected ^' until a time, times, and the dividing of a 
time,^' speaks his great words, and makes war on the 
saints, and prevails against them. So the first thought 
on the appearance of the white horse and his crowned 
rider here, is, that it represents Christ, because he is 
clearly thus represented in chapter xix. 11, 12. But 
there he has many crowns, and is called "the word of 
God.'' This is an imitator of Christ, — the Antichrist, 
— going forth to the conquest of the world, and to make 
war on the saints, and thus "judgment begin at the 
house of God.'' The second, third, and fourth seals, 
reveal his instruments. 

The First Seal. 

Verses 1, 2. "And I saw when the Lamb opened 
one of the seals, and I heard, as it were, the noise of 



136 THE APOCALYPSE. 

thunder, one of the four beasts, saying, Come and see. 
And I saw, and behold, a white horse : and he that sat 
on hira had a bow ; and a crown was given unto him: 
and he went forth conquering and to conquer.'' 

On the opening of the first seal/ we are told that it 
was followed by the voice of one of the four living 
creatures, sounding hke the voice of thunder, saying, 
Come and see. But it is now conceded that the read- 
ing should be modified by the omission of the last two 
words, ^^ and see,'' leaving the verse to read, ^' I heard 
one of the four beasts, saying, Cbrne; " thus being 
simply a call for the conqueror to enter on his work ; 
and forthwith the white horse, with his crowned and 
conquering rider, appears with a bow in his hand, the 
symbol of conquest. But he is not to work alone. 

The Second Seal. 

Verses 3, 4. "And when he had opened the second 
seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 
And there went out another horse that teas red : and 
poioer was given to him that sat thereon to take peace 
from the earth, and that they should kill one another: 
and there was given unto him a great sword." 

Another of the seals is opened, and the second living 
creature with a loud voice cried, ^' Come." At this 
cry came forth a red Jiorse, and to his rider was given 
a great sword: and his mission was to "' take peace 
from the earth," and that men should kill one another. 
This was one of the functions of the beast of chapter 



CHAPTER VI. 137 

13, to kill and destroy. " Who is able to make war 
with him?^^ A general state of war is the result of 
the opening of this second seal. 

The Third Seal. 

Verses 5, 6. ^^And when he had opened the third 
seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And 
I beheld, and lo, a black horse ; and he that sat on him 
had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a 
voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure 
of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley 
for a penny ; and see thou hurt not the oil and the 
wine.'^ 

These verses describe the opening and the results 
following the opening of the third seal, attended with 
the voice of the third living creature, who also cried, 
^' Come.'' And a black horse appeared, and to his 
rider was given a Cvyov^ yoJce, not a pair of balances, 
as commonly translated. A yoke is a symbol of 
slavery. It is the function of this rider to enslave the 
conquered and bind them to the conqueror. 

And this symbol of a yoke, and the fact set forth in 
the succeeding clauses, are seen to perfectly har- 
monize. Being conquered and enslaved, the rations 
of a slave are' measured out to them — ^^ A measure of 
wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a 
penny,'' a day's rations for the price of a day's labor 
of a slave. ^' And see that thou hurt not the oil and 
the wine ; " that is, the luxuries, the portions of the 



138 THE APOCALYPSE. 

conquerors. This is the order of one of the living 
ones. So that, as Dr. Seiss remarks, " Price lists are 
made in heaven.'^ 

Verses 7, 8. ^^ And when he had opened the fourth 
seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come 
and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse : and 
his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed 
with him. And power was given unto them over the 
fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with 
hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the 
earth.^' 

The opening of the fourth seal was followed by the 
order of the fourth living one, saying, " Come.'' Then 
came forth a pale horse, and Death was his rider. 
Following him were the inhabitants of Hades, over- 
spreading the earth, and exciting the most furious 
passions. 

This seal introduces the war of the little horn 
against the saints, in which they are to be killed 
upon the fourth part of the earth, " with the sword, 
and with famine, and with death, and by the beasts 
of the earth." 

Hades, in this passage, is put by synecdoche for 
the inhabitants of Hades, the demons who so intensely 
hate Christ and his people. We are, without doubt, 
witnessing some of the developments of these super- 
natural agencies in spiritualistic works ; works hated 
by God and to be feared by men, tending directly to 
the excitement of the foulest passions dwelling in the 



CHAPTER VI. . 139 

human breast. Hideous in its deformity as it now is, 
it has not yet souoded the depths of its awful deprav- 
ity ; but when this seal is opened the system will have 
reached its maturity. It is by these agencies '' some 
of them of understanding shall fall^ to try them, and 
to purge, and to make them white/^ '^ They shall fall 
by 'sword and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil 
many days,'' under the ^^ vile person's " persecution. 
(Daniel xi.) 

Verses 9-11. ^^ And when he had opened the fifth 
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were 
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which 
they held : And they cried with a loud voice, saying, 
How long, Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge 
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the 
earth ? And white robes were given unto every one 
of them; and it was said unto them, that they should 
rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants 
also and their brethren, that should be killed as they 
were^ should be fulfilled." 

As the first four seals were opened, a horse and 
his rider were called forth by one of the living ones ; 
the first a conquering king, the three following ones 
representing his agents. The first agent of the 
crowned conqueror was to take peace from the earth, 
and introduce war for purposes of conquest. The 
second agent of the conquering king has a yoke, to 
hold the conquered in bondage to his master, subject- 
ing to strict and meager rations. The third agent, he 



140 THE APOCALYPSE. 

who comes forth at the call of the fourth living one, 
is Death, and his minions from Hades, to make war on 
and destroy the saints. 

But when the other seals are opened, no more 
agents of the king are called or come forth ; for they 
are all abroad and engaged in their work. But the 
result of their action, especially the one under the 
fourth seal, is exhibited. The souls of the martj^rs are 
seen by John, " under ^' or below ^^ the altar '' which 
is before God in heaven. But their number is not 
yet complete, and the work of death yet goes on. 
Thus we read in response to their inquiry, " How 
long, Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and 
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?'' 
'• that they should rest yet for a little season, until 
their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that 
should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." 
Thus these disembodied spirits are seen to be in a 
state of conscious expectancy, awaiting a coming day 
of vengeance on their foes. " And there was given a 
white robe unto every one of them.'' These robes 
are long, flowing, priestly stoles^ not the common 
L^aiiov^ or garment. None among all the redeemed 
but these martja^s have promise of the stole, or are 
represented as wearing it. The overcomers of chap- 
ter iii. 5 have the promise of " iiia%iOi(; Uvxoig,'' 
white garments. But to martyrs belong the stole. 
(Chapter vii. 9, 13, 14.) 



CHAPTER VI. 141 

From these facts we learn that the work of the 
several seals is not strictly consecutive, but is, at 
least to some extent, contemporaneous. For the 
work of the preceding seal is still in progress when 
the fifth is opened. And so the works of the second, 
third, and fourth seals are but so many parts of the 
conquests of the crowned rider of the white horse. 
Thus we see the force of the phrase found in chap- 
ter i. 1, ^' things which must be done with celerity,^' 
or in a rapid manner. 

The Opening of the Sixth Seal. 

Verses 12-17. '^ And I beheld when he had opened 
the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake ; 
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and 
the moon became as blood : And the stars of heaven 
fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her un- 
timely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled 
together ; and every mountain and island were moved 
out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and 
the great men, and the rich men, and the chief cap- 
tains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and 
every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the 
rocks of the mountains ; And said to the mountains 
and rocks. Fail on us, and hide us from the face of him 
that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the 
Lamb : For the great day of his wrath is come ; and 
who shall be able to stand ? '' 

We are informed in verse 11 that the day of ven- 
geance will not come until the full number of 



142 THE APOCALYPSE. 

martyrs is made up. But under the sixth seal^ as in 
verse 17, we are told that ^^ the great day of his wrath 
hath come.'' Consequently the events of the sixth 
seal are subsequent to all the others, and are the 
signal that the persecutions of the saints are at an 
end. The war of the little horn will then have termi- 
nated. Therefore the scene here described is the 
" coining of the Ancient of DaysP It is " the sign of 
the Son of Man in heaven/' which is to " immediately '^ 
follow " the tribulation of those days." (Matt. xxiv. 30.) 
Then the dominion of the little horn over the saints 
will be taken away. But it by no means follows that 
he will cease to exist and reign over the conquered 
nations. For he will do so until the battle of that 
great day of God Almighty, which will not take place 
until Christ shall have come in the clouds of heaven 
and taken his people to himself; celebrated the mar- 
riage supper of the Lamb with them in the new 
Jerusalem; and then returns with the armies of 
heaven to conquer a peace, and cast the beast alive 
into the lake of fire. This scene, and Matt. xxiv. 29, 
30, will be seen by the attentive reader to be identical ; 
the last clause of verse 30, "and they shall see the 
Son of Man coming,*' &c., properly belonging to 
verse 31. 

The scene here described is panoramic in its 
ng-ture. 

1. The great earthquake levels and removes all 



CHAPTER VL 143 

obstructions to vision — ^^ mountains and islands" — 
by removing them from their places. 

2. The " lights " of the world are hidden in the 
darkness of night, that only the coming scene may be 
witnessed. 

3. The curtain of the heavens is rolled up, and 
the judgment sitting in heaven exhibited to all the 
earth — " Tlie sign of the Son of Man.^^ 

The description here given is more definite and 
full than that given by Christ. He said, '^ Then 
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.*^ But here> 
we are shown how it will affect them. ^^ The kings 
of the earth," &c., " hid themselves in the caves and 
in the rocks of the mountains ; and they said to the 
mountains and to the rocks, Pall on us and hide us 
from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and 
from the wrath of the Lamb ; for the great day of his 
wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" 

The world will then be satisfied of the truth of the 
doctrine of a day of judgment, and that Christ is 
coming in person — a doctrine at which many, if not 
all of them, will have mocked and derided. But the 
scene is only a temporary one, and Nature will resume 
her wonted course again ; and the wicked, finding 
that the saints still remain, will be ashamed of their 
fright, and laugh at their mutual fear, and so, instead 
of spending the days and passing the nights in earnest 
prayers for forgiveness for their sinful thoughts and 



144 THE APOCALYPSE. 

deeds, will go back to their old employments, indulge 
in their old pleasures, undeterred hj past alarms, un- 
prevented by future fears. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Sealing the Servants op God. 

Verses 1-8. " And after these things I saw four 
angels standing on the four corners of the earth, hold- 
ing the four winds of the earth, that the wind should 
not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, 
having the seal of the living God : and he cried with 
a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given 
to hurt the earth and the sea. Saying, Hurt not the 
earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed 
the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I 
heard the number of them which were sealed : and 
there were sealed a hundred and forty and four thou- 
sand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the 
tribe of Juda, ... of the tribe of Reuben, ... of 
the tribe of Gad, ... of the tribe of Aser, ... of 
the tribe of Nepthalim, ... of the tribe of Manas- 
ses, ... of the tribe of Simeon, ... of the tribe of 
Levi, ... of the tribe of Issachar, ... of the tribe 
of Zabulon, . . . of the tribe of Joseph, ... of the 
tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand,'^ [of 
each tribe named]. 

The events of this chapter transpire under the 
sixth seal, and follow the scenes described in the 
close of chapter sixth, ^[ After these things ; " so that 
these things were only temporary, and the world 



CHAPTER VII. 145 

resumes its wonted course. God has his angels ap- 
pointed to various places and diverse service. The 
four angels holding the four winds implies that they 
are set to restrain the agents of destruction until all 
things are in readiness for their action. The angel 
with the seal of the living God is commissioned to 
mark them who are worthy of it, for deliverance from 
impending judgments, and for deliverance from the 
earth, as we shall see when we come to the considera- 
tion of chapters ix. and xiv. Until they are sealed 
the judgments must be stayed. 

The number sealed was stated, in the seer^s hear- 
ing, to be one hundred and forty-four thousand ; twelve 
thousand from each of the twelve tribes of the chih 
I dren of Israel. They seem to be a select company of 
; converted Jews, of great moral purity, appointed and 
I prepared as a body-guard for Christ. That the Jews 
alone are intended, appears from the specific mention 
of the names of the tribes from which they are to be 
taken. The number is definite; twelve thousand from 
each tribe designated ; one hundred and forty-four 
j thousand the sum total. The seal impresses on them 
!the name of God. Does the reader ask where so many 
of the lost tribes are found ? the answer is, man knows 
but little of the numbers of those tribes, nor where 
they are ; but they are known to God. When he 
banished them he said, ^^I will command, and I will 
sift the house of Israel among all nations like as corn 
10 



> 



146 THE APOCALYPSE. 

is sifted in a sieve. Yet shall not the least grain fall 
to the earth/' (Amos ix. 9.) God has never lost 
sight of them, although they have vanished from the 
sight of man; they do not know their own pedigree, 
or relation to Jacob. What portions of existing nations 
are of IsraePs tribes who can say ? There are, accord- 
ing to the latest estimates, about eleven or twelve 
millions of recognized Jews in the world, mostly of 
the house of Judah. The thirty-six thousand from 
Judah, Benjamin, and half-tribe of Manasseh, would be 
small for so many millions. But God " will count 
when he writeth up (or enrolls) the people, that this 
man was born there," &g. That is, he will recognize 
nationality and tribeship in his registration. Saved 
Jews will be Jews still, and be able to say, as 
Paul did, " I am verily a man which am a Jew,'' Chris- 
tian though he was. The election among that race, 
however, are still beloved of God '^ for the fathers' 
sakes^" This number of sealed ones, and those of 
chapter xiv. 1-5, are no doubt identical." But it does 
not follow that no others but the one hundred and 
forty-four thousand were sealed. All the living saints 
will be sealed. (Rev. xxii. 4.) 

The Palm Bearers. 

Verses 9-17. '' After this I beheld, and lo, a great 
multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, 
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before 
the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white. 



CHAPTER VII. 147 

robes, and palms in their hands ; and cried with a loud 
voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon 
the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels 
stood round about the throne, and about the elders 
and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their 
faces, and worshiped God, saying. Amen: Blessing, 
and glory, and -wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, 
and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and 
ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, say- 
ing unto me. What are these which are arrayed in 
white robes? and whence came they? And I said 
unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me. 
These are they which came out of great tribula- 
tion, and have washed their robes and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they 
before the throne of God, and serve him day and night 
in his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall 
dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, 
neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light 
on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the 
midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead 
them unto living fountains of waters : and God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes.^' 

After the view of the sealed multitude had passed 
away, he saw, before the throne in heaven, another 
multitude, greater than any man could number, out 
of all the races and nations of the earth. It w^ill be 
remarked that they were clothed as were the souls 
under the altar, who, under the fifth seal, were to rest 
until their number was full. At the appearance of the 
throne, and the elders in mid heaven, under the sixth 
seal, that number was completed ; and from that time 



148 THE APOCALYPSE. 

no more will siifi'er the fate of martyrdom. TliQir 
rest ends, and the whole number oi martyr souls stand 
before the throne in white robes ; and, added to them, 
palms, emblems of victory, in their hands. Having 
gained the victory, they sing* of salvation, saying, 
*' Salvation to our God, which sitteth on the throne, 
and unto the Lamb.'' To this grand chorus of joy 
the angels join their song of praise, ascribing "bless- 
ing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and 
mighf unto him that sits on the throne "for ever.'' 
Thus shall saints and angels unite in songs of praise 
at the ending of the sufferings of God's children ; long 
endurance shall meet its reward in everlasting joy; 
the good warfare in triumph over all foes ; the prayer 
of the sufferer be exchanged for the song of the con- 
queror, and all heaven ring with the glad acclaim. 

The question of one of the elders was evidently put 
to John to secure his attention to its true answ^er. 
"These" {ol TteQil^ei-ih^atvoi) ''the ones having been 
clothed in the white stoles " (referring to the stoles 
w^hich w^ere given the waiting souls of the martyrs), 
" what are they, and w^hence came ? " His explana- 
tion to his own question was, " These are they who 
come out of the tribulation the great ; " the same 
" great tribulation " of Matt. xxiv. 21, 29. " And they 
w^ashed their robes and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne 
of God, and they serve him day and night in his 



CHAPTER YII. 149 

temple ; and he that sits on the throne shall spread 
his tabernacle over them.'^ 

Their sorrows and exposures are for ever ended, 
tears wiped away, and '^ the Lamb is their shepherd, 
and shall lead them to the waters of the fountain of 
life.'' In this state of blessedness they await the 
resurrection, as promised in chapter xx. It is to this 
blessed state '^ the dead who die in the Lord," during 
the beasts' war upon them, are referred in chapter xiv. 
13, " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from 
henceforth." Why so blest ? There are two reasons 
1. They rest from their [xoncov) extreme toils and 
exhaustive weariness. It is difficult to express the 
full import of the word. It is something of what an 
army feels after a long and severely contested battle, 
or series of battles — such as, to illustrate, the army 
felt after the seven days' conflict before Richmond — 
perfectly worn out and overdone. 2. " Their works 
do follow them;" they are receiving the fruit, the 
seed of which was sown during life in laborious work 
and arduous toil for Christ, before the throne in such 
bliss and enjoyment as God alone can afford. If the 
dead are unconscious, there can be to them no blessed- 
ness such as is promised or here pronounced by the 
Spirit on those who die in the Lord ; and thus the 
Avord of God gives an impression for which there is 
no foundation in fact, and we may say, or in reason. 

The theory of the pre-resurrection and translation 



150 THE APOCALYPSE. 

of the saints is sometimes sought to be sustained by 
this passage. That is, that the saints of this dispen- 
sation, living and dead, will be caught away silently 
before the visible appearance of Ciirist, ^^ in the clouds 
of heaven, with power and great glory ; ^' and before 
^^he shall send his angels with a great sound of a 
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect 
from the four winds. '^ In other words, that the rap- 
ture of the saints will take place before the great 
tribulation. If this latter view is correct, then the 
great multitude, who came out of the tribulation the 
great, cannot be the ones who are raptured before it. 
The resurrection of the martyrs is introduced in the 
twentieth chapter — not before. These, therefore, are 
their souls, no longer under the altar in heaven, as 
they were under the fifth seal, but their number being 
complete, ihey stand before the throne. There is 
no resurrection or rapture of the saints promised 
until after the great tribulation caused by Antichrist. 
Christ, as already quoted, places the gathering of 
the elect after it ; and so likewise does Paul in 2 
Thess. ii. He addresses a Gentile church, and classes 
himself with them, thus : " Now we beseech you, 
brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and our gathering together unto him, that ye 
be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled ... as 
that the day of Christ is at hand,'' or " has come," as 
some re^d it. ^^ For that day [of Christ's coming and 



CHAPTER VIII. 151 

our gathering together unto him] shall not come ex- 
cept there come a falhng away first, and that man of 
sin be revealed . . . whom the Lord shall . . . destroy 
by the brightness of his coming.*' The white-robed 
palm-bearers are alfeady before the throne, at the 
time of the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four 
thousand Israelites, and before their translation. But 
the sealed ones are still on earth under the fifth 
trumpet, protected by the seal from the scourge of 
locusts. But in chapter xiv. 1-5, they are, " with the 
Lamb,'' singing ^' before the throne," ^^ redeemed from 
the earth," and ^^ from among men," ^^the first fruits 
unto God and the Lamb." If the body of the saints 
of this dispensation have preceded them, they can not 
be termed the first fruits, and therefore the general 
rapture has not taken place, and the white-robed mul- 
titude are the souls of the martyrs in heaven before 
the throne. 

CHAPTER VIIL 

The Seventh Seal opened. 

Verse 1. ^' And when he had opened the seventh 
seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of 
half an hour." 

This verse properly belongs to the seventh chapter. 
Instead of action, as under the opening of the other 
seals, there is profound silence. The voice of the 



152 THE APOCALYPSE. 

great multitude who sang before the throne the song 
of salvation, the voice of the angelic choristers who 
joined the heavenly melody, yea, and all heaven, is 
hushed, and profound silence reigns through all the 
abode of God. A crisis has been reached in the pro- 
ceedings, and a new scene is to be introduced. The 
constitution of this book is somewhat on the plan of 
a panoramic exhibition of a battle-field. The different 
scenes are not always successive in their fulfillment, 
as they are in their exhibition. They may consist of 
events which transpired at the same moment in dif- 
ferent places ; but being all to be exhibited to one 
audience, they must necessarily be exhibited part by 
part. We have, in the opening of the seven seals, 
witnessed a series of judgments^ and triumphs. A 
new series is to be introduced, to transpire at the 
same time with the events of the seals, at least in 
part, for the actors under the seals are also, in some 
measure, actors under the trumpets. For instance, 
under the sixth seal a certain class of men have the 
seal of God placed on their forehead to insure their 
safety. They appear under the fifth trumpet sealed, 
and their seal gives them protection. It is, then, in 
reference to the preparation for the new scene, the 
silence occurs. 

The Seven Trumpets. 

Verse 2. " And I saw the seven angels which stood 
before God; and to them were given seven trum- 
pets.'^ 



CHAPTER VIII. 153 

Here diflferent actors are introduced. UDlike the 
opening of the seals is the sounding of the trumpets. 
In the former instance the Lamb himself opened the 
seals of the book ; but the sounding of the trumpets 
was committed to angelic ministration. " The seven 
angels ivhich stood hefore GodP This is a reference to 
the ^' seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth/' 
represented by the seven eyes and the seven horns of 
the Lamb. (See chapter v. 6.) Their mission is to 
sound the signal for the infliction of sore judgments 
upon the earth. The preparations for their sounding 
are various, and minutely described by John, as the 
scene was shown to him. 

Verses 3-5. ^^ And another angel came and stood at 
the altar, having a golden censer ; and there was given 
unto him much incense, that he should offer it with 
the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which 
was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, 
which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up 
before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel 
took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and 
cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and 
thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. '^ 

Another angelj not one of the seven, ^^ came and 
stood at the altar'' in heaven, the one from which 
Moses took his pattern in the wilderness : for that 
was a pattern of heavenly things. This angel had a 
golden censer; he therefore was of a priestly order. 
To him was given ^' much incense, that he should offer 



154 THE APOCALYPSE. 

[give] it with the prayers of all saints upon the 
golden altar which was before the throne.'^ In the 
tabernacle service there were two altars ; one the 
great altar of burnt offerings without the tabernacle, 
and the other the golden altar, the altar of incense 
within the tabernacle; near the entrance of the most 
holy place, where the Shekinah dwelt, on the mercy 
seat. On this altar of incense, in the court of heaven, 
the prayers of all saints were to be offered, perfumed 
with much incense. We have before found these 
prayers reserved in golden vials, and intrusted to the 
hands of the representatives of the saints, the elders, 
and living creatures. The time has at length arrived 
when they are to come up before God. Not that they 
have not been before heard ; they have, and have been 
kept in remembrance until the time for their answer 
should fully arrive : this is the appointed time^ and 
60 they are represented as coming up afresh before 
God, perfumed with the smoke of the burning incense. 
Long centuries the saints, with united heart and voice, 
have prayed, as Jesus directed, " Thy kingdom come." 
Long it has seemed, and yet they are not answered. 
But as we have seen, they are neither lost nor for- 
gotten. But their answer implies dreadful judgments 
on the earth. And at length they fall. The angel 
having offered his incense, and having thus emptied 
his censer, fills it with fire from the altar, and casts it 
into the earth from heaven. The result is voices, 



CHAPTER yiii. 155 

thunderings and lightniDgs, and an eartliqiiake. 
These ceremonies having been completed, '^ the 
seven angels prepared to sound.'' They arranged 
among themselves ;the order of their work^ for- it 
was to be successive, one after the other. 

Departments of Judgment under the Seven 
Trumpets. 

The judgments inflicted under the trumpets are : 
under the first, on the earth, burning trees and grass, 
leaving it desolate and parched. Under the second 
trumpet, the sea is affected, its living creatures die, 
and its ships are destroyed. Under the third trum- 
pet, the rivers and fountains of water are made bitter, 
so that many drinking of them die. Under the fourth 
trumpet, the luminaries of heaven are smitten, and 
their light made dim. Thus the four departments of 
nature, earth, sea, fountains, and luminaries of heaven 
are affected. 

The next three are ivoes on men. 

The fifth inflicts terrible torments. 

The sixth inflicts an awful death. 

The seventh arraigns men in judgment before God. 

Verse 7. "• The first angel sounded, and there fol- 
lowed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were 
cast upon the eai^th : and the third part of trees was 
burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.'' 

The result following the sounding of this trumpet 



156 THE APOCALYPSE. 

was " hail and fire mingled with blood/' This was in 
part — the fire and the hail- — one of the plagues of 
Egypt, sent as judgments upon a perverse and willful 
king. That blood should be mingled with it is noth- 
ing strange, for bloody showers have fallen at divers 
times both in this and other lands, authentic accounts 
of which are still in existence. The efi*ect of this 
judgment will be the burning up of one third part of 
the trees and all green grass. It may be objected, 
perhaps, that such things are exceedingly improbable, 
and can never literally transpire ; but whoever can 
have faith in the literality of the plagues of Egypt 
can have no difficulty in believing in the literality of 
this prediction. 

Verses 8, 9. ^^ And the second angel sounded, and 
as it were a great mountain burning with fire was 
cast into the sea : and the third part of the sea became 
blood ; and the third part of the creatures which were 
in the sea, and had life, died ; and the third part of the 
ships were destroyed." 

The mountain, as it were, burning with fire, was 
cast into the sea. It is not a real mountain. *^ It is 
only something having the general appearance of a 
mountain, and he plainly tells us so. He saw — cog — 
as it ivere, a mountain. Of course, then, we are to 
take it not as a real mountain, but as something 
resembling it. A certain writer insists that the 
plague under this trumpet is not to be taken literally, 



CHAPTER VIIL 157 

because a mountain falling into the sea could never 
turn it into blood. But John does not say it was a 
mountain. He says that it was something th^itlooked 
like a burning mountain. Exactly what it was he 
could no better tell us, except that its effect upon 
the waters of the sea was, that it turned them into 
blood. An ordinary mountain would not do this ; but 
that falling, fiery mass, which had the appearance of 
a burning mountain, did it.'- "^ The incredibility of 
such a description, in itself considered, no one will 
deny; but when it is remembered that the wdiole 
scene is of a miraculous nature, sent as a judgment 
from heaven upon a wicked world, there need be no 
more diflSculty in accepting the literality of the state- 
ment than in believing the statement of the Penta- 
teuch concerning the rivers of Egypt turned into 
blood ; thus we read of Moses, that he ^^ lifted up the 
rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in 
the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants, 
and all the waters that were in the river were turned 
to blood.'' That such was the result of the descent 
of this meteoric fiery mass the Scriptures plainly as- 
sert: let those doubt them who may ; we cleave to God's 
word ; what it so unequivocally asserts we believe. 

Verses 10, 11. /^ And the third angel sounded, and 
there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were 
a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, 

* Seiss. 



158 THE APOCALYPSE. 

and upon the fountains of waters ; and the name of 
the star is called Wormwood : and the third part of 
the waters became wormwood ; and many men died 
of the waters, because they were made bitter/' 

The falling of meteors of various sizes is so common 
an event, and the evidence of the existence of such 
bodies in space so abundant, that there need be noth- 
ing incredible in the fall of one so bitter as to embitter 
the waters of rivers and fountains so as to poison 
them and cause the death of those who drink them. 
The statement is a literal one, ^Hliere fell a great star 
from heaven^ Says Dr. Seiss, ^^ Interpreters tell ns 
that a star denotes an eminent angel or teacher of the 
church. They refer us for proof , of this to the first 
chapter of this book. But there is one important 
link lacking in this argument, as applied to the case 
before us. There Christ himself says, that ' the seven 
stars ' beheld by the seer denote ^ the angels of the 
seven churches;^ but here he says no such thing; 
nor is there any proof at all that the church is in 
question. This star falls out of heaven, but there is 
no evidence whatever that the church is heaven. 
Besides, so great a star of the church, in such lonely 
distinction, could only be Christ himself, who never 
falls out of the church, whose name is not Wormwood, 
and who does not poison the fountains and rivers of 
earth by his teachings. When the Scriptures tell us 
that a thing is a symbol, we are to take it as such ; 



CHAPTER VIII. 159 

but when tbey give no intimation that a thing is 
other than literal^ there is no warrant for^ making a 
symbol or figure of it.*' 

Verse 12. ^^ And the fourth angel sounded, and the 
third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part 
of the moon, and the third part of the stars ; so as the 
third part of them w^as darkened, and the day shone 
not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. '^ 

We are aware that it has been the custom for 
years in the past to make those memorable words 
uttered by Jesus when he was upon earth, ^' There 
shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the 
stars'' (Luke xxi. 25), mean any and every thing but 
just what it says — great and terrifying signs in 
those great luminaries which God has given to light 
the earth by day and by night; and we know that 
following out these ideas, without number have been 
the attempts to interpret the passage under consider- 
ation on such an hypothesis, viz., that the prediction 
symbolizes troubles by which the church, world, 
cities, Bible doctrines, and nations, are to be obscured 
or overthrown ; others adopt other views, many of 
which are so unsatisfactory to their adherents, that 
even while advocating them they are compelled to 
admit their unsatisfactoriness, and general want of 
harmony both with Christ's teachings and the context. 
That there are yet to come signs in these great lumi- 
naries of heaven, viz., a darkening or obscuration of a 



160 THE APOCALYPSE. 

third part of their Hght^ which shall terrify the wicked^ 
those who -remember various startling events in the 
not very distant past^ as well as others recorded in 
history^ will have no difficulty in believing, especially 
when the event which is here predicted finds as its 
corollary another passage recorded in Igaiah xiii. 9, 
which is equally explicit and positive in its con- 
ditions — ^^ Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel 
both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land 
desolate : and he shall destroy the sinners thereof 
out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations 
thereof shall not give their light ; the sun shall he dark- 
ened m his going forth, and the moon shall not cause 
her light to shine. And I will punish the w^orld for 
their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. '' Thus 
does scripture agree with scripture ; and here we 
have, added to a statement already strong, another 
equally explicit and positive. God is governed by 
no consideration of impossibility in the conduct of his 
righteous judgments upon the wicked of the earth, 
but worketh according to the counsel of his own 
will. 

The Three Woe Trumpets. 

Verse 13. "And I beheld, and heard an angel flying 
through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, 
Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth, by 
reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three 
angels, which are yet to sound I " 



CHAPTER IX. ^ 161 

Heard an angel. Later critics have decided ^' eagle ^' 
to be the true reading. But that commonly given is 
the more natural and easy to be understood. Those 
who adopt the new rendering find it difficult to inter- 
pret the action of the eagle in this connection. It is 
natural, where the entire proceeding is carried for- 
ward by angelic ministration, that an angel should be 
commissioned to proclaim the three coming woes on 
the inhabitants of earth ; and so he did proclaim. A 
woe on men attends each of the three remaining trum- 
pets, instead of, as before,\under the former trumpets, 
on the earth and its productions. By them men were 
afflicted only incidentally; under these three the 
action on men is direct. Under the former the re- 
sources of nature were used. Under these the 
resources of the infernal regions are employed ; infer- 
nal locusts and infernal horsemen ; the former to tor- 
ment men, the latter to kill them. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Locusts from the Well Pit. 

Verses 1-11. ^^ And the fifth angel sounded, and I 
saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth : and to him 
was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he 
opened the bottomless pit ; and there arose a smoke 
out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace ; and 
the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the 
smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke 

11 



162 ^ THE APOCALYPSE. 

lociis*ts upon the earth: and unto them was given 
power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt 
the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither 
any tree ; but only those men which have not the seal 
of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given 
that they should not kill them, but that they should 
be tormented five months : and their torment ivas as 
the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not 
find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee 
from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like 
unto horses prepared unto battle ; and on their heads 
loere as it were crowns like gold, and their faces icere 
as the faces of men. And £hey had hair as the hair 
of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of 
iron ; and the sound of their wings was as the sound 
of chariots of many horses running to battle. And 
they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were 
stings in their tails : and their power loas to hurt men 
five months. And they had a king over them, which 
is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the 
Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue 
hath his name Apollyon.'^ 

In this instance it is evident, from the action per- 
formed, that the ^'siar^^ which is said to have "fallen 
from heaven unto the earth,'' is a symbol of an angelic 
messenger. For a star is frequently used as the 
symbol of an angel or messenger, whether human or 
superhuman, and the context must decide which, if 
reference is had to either. The seven stars in Christ's 
right hand are the "angels of the churches." The 



CHAPTER IX. 163 

dragon's tail drew a third part of ^^ the stars ofheokvenj^ 
and cast them to the earth. This, no doubt, refers to 
the angels whom Satan seduces, and who share -his 
fate. (See Matt. xxv. 41.) It is not natural for a star 
to receive, hold, or use a key. 

" Fallen from heaven unto the eartJiJ^ The writer 
did not see this star angel in the act of falling, but 
saw him as already /a??en. It may be the dragon after 
his defeat by Michael, and his expulsion from heaven 
with his angels into the earth ; or it may be a subor- 
dinate angel. But whatever he is, his name is AioollyoUj 
and his mission is to open the bottomless pit, and let 
loose its hordes of locusts ; marshal and govern them 
in their work of tormenting men. 

'^ To him was given the hey of the bottomless pitJ^ 
4^QmTog — well, pit, cistern. A^ivaoov — deep, 
profound, bottomless, abyss, place of the dead, hell. 
Paul uses it in the sense of place of the dead, '^ Who 
shall descend into the a(^jvaoov^ that is, to bring up 
Christ again from the dead.'' It was the a(ivaaov 
from which the ejected demons desired Christ to spare 
them until their time. It is the place into which 
Satan is to be cast and bound for a thousand years. 
(Eev. XX.) 

'^ Key ofP Key is the symbol of power. This 
angel is invested with power to open the " well of the 
ahyssJ^ It was opened when Korah, Dathan, and 
Abiram, with their company, went down alive into it. 



164 THE APOCALYPSE. 

'^He opened/' "There arose a great smoke/' so 
great that the sun and the air were darkened " by 
reason of the smoke of the pif That such a trans- 
action as this will take place, there is no more reason 
to doubt; than there is to doubt the history of Korah 
and his company. 

" Locusts upon the earth." Probably they arose in 
the smoke proceeding from the pit. That they are 
not natural locusts, whose nature it is to devour all 
green things, is evident from the fact that these do 
not eat any green thing ; their only mission being to 
torment men, not to devour any vegetation. 

" Seal of GodP These infernal locusts are not to 
torment men indiscriminately. God has provided a 
mark for certain characters, and these are exempted 
from the plague, just as Israel was in Egypt, while 
protected by the blood of the Passover lamb from the 
sword of the destroying angel. Is it not to this pro- 
tection our Saviour refers when he says, " Watch ye, 
therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted 
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to 
pass, and to stand before the son of man '' ? (Luke 
xxi.) 

^^ Not hUl tJiemJ^ Their mission was restricted. 
They were not to kill the subjects of their torments, 
nor would they be able to die, however much they 
desired it; ''death shall /lee from themJ^ A fearful 
picture is here presented — a torment so great as to 



CHAPTER IX. 165 

induce men to long for the approach of the *^ king of 
terrors ; '^ indeed, to seek for death, but yet not able 
to find it, nor escape from the torment which they 
must bear. ^' Their torment is as the torment of a 
scorpion when he striketh a man.'^ The scorpion 
sting produces an inflammation and redness of the 
parts, accompanied with the most terrible pain, in- 
ducing the subject to roll on the ground in his 
anguish. But it can not be escaped by death, for 
death itself flies away. The description of these 
locusts is so unearthly as to strike the stoutest heart 
with terror — like horses in shape, hair like women, 
faces like men, crowns like gold, breastplate like iron, 
teeth like lions, tails like scorpions, and stings in 
their tails, all marshaled like an army of cavalry 
rushing to battle, producing a sound with their wings 
like the chariots of many horses running to battle. 
" Their power was to torment men five months,'' or 
just one hundred and fifty days, under the command 
of hing Apollyon, the destroyer, whose name is 
derived from the Greek verb AjioXXv/iij to destroy. 
And be it observed that torment is the only destruc- 
tion which he has power to inflict. He is the angel 
of the bottomless pit. If he governs it, has he more 
power than with his legions of hellish locusts on 
earth? Who can read the description of the plagues 
under these trumpets, and not be reminded of our 
Saviour's description of the time which shall precede 



166 THE APOCALYPSE. 

his coming in a cloud ? " There shall be signs in the 
sun, and in the moon, and in the stars ; and upon the 
earth distress of nations, with perplexity ; the sea 
and waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for 
fear, and for looking after those things which are 
coming on the earth." In regard to the numerous 
theories which have been advanced from time to time 
as affording the most reasonable solution of this ^^ con- 
fessedly difficult passage,^ we have simply to say that 
they do not meet the requirements of the prediction. 
Perhaps that which has gained for itself the largest 
number of adherents among the advocates of an his- 
torical interpretation of this book is, that these locusts 
symbolize the Mohammedan invasion of Europe and 
other lands, under Mohammed and his successors. It 
is true that in some things there are points of coin- 
cidence which have given a certain coloring of plausi- 
bility to the theory ; but it can bear no searching 
analysis. Let us examine one or two points out of 
the many that exist in contravention of this theory. 
The prediction is very positive that these locusts, in 
going forth " upon the face of the earth," ^^ should not 
hurt the grass nor any green thing." It is true that 
one of the invaders gave the command to the Saracen 
army invading the East, " Destroy no palm trees nor 
hum any fields of corn; cut down no fruit trees J^ But 
this very command shows that this was an exception 
to the general rule ; and besides, it is absurd even to 



CHAPTER IS. 167 

think of armies, such as went forth under Mohammedan 
leaders, abstaining from the injury of trees, which 
were necessary for fuel, and grass, necessary for the 
pasturage of their horses. These locusts were to 
have power, not to kill, but to torment. And besides 
all that, even this power was limited to all who had 
not the ^' seal of God in their foreheads ^ Whereas 
the whole mission of these fanatical hordes which 
spread themselves abroad in certain parts of Europe 
and the East, was to kill and destroy the saints of 
God. When Mohammed wrote his Koran he delivered 
this command : ^^ When ye encounter the unbelievers, 
strike off their heads, until ye have made a great 
slaughter among them. ... As for the infidels, let 
them perish.'^ Here, then, we have ample reason for 
refusing credence to a theory which is in so evident 
an opposition to facts. For not only were these 
locusts prohibited from touching those possessing the 
seal of God, but their power was limited to torment. 
They had no power to inflict death. It is true that 
■the ground has been taken that this command, ^^ not 
to kill men,'^ has been interpreted as meaning " not to 
annihilate them as a political Christian body.'^ But 
this reasoning has met its answer in the reply of 
Dean Alford to one of the advocates of this theory. 
He says, " If, then, the same rule of interpretation 
is to hold, the sixth verse must mean that the 
^ political Christian body ^ will be so sorely beset by 



168 THE APOCALYPSE. 

Mohammedan locusts that it will vehemently desire to 
be annihilated, and not find any way. For it surely 
can not be allowed that the killing of men should be 
said of their annihilation as a political body in one 
verse, and their desiring to die in the next should bo 
said of something totally diflferent, and applicable to 
their individual misery/^ 

But it is said that these Mohammedans in their 
mighty array, in the bustling, confusing sound made 
by them upon the march, the character of their dress 
and accouterments of war, their long hair, their horses, 
their turbans, breastplates, and shields, all rendered 
the resemblance between them and these so-called 
^' symbolical locusts " so complete that it is impossible 
to mistake the allusion. ^^ But how could turbans be 
like gold?'^ Or even admitting this general resem- 
blance, when the character of their work differs so 
essentially from that spoken of in the prophecy, why 
should a few petty details, in which there may appear 
something of a coincidence, be taken as affording con- 
clusive reasons for the adoption of an interpretation 
so strained as this ? 

The Second Woe — The Sixth Trumpet. 

Verses 12-21. "One woe is past; and, behold, 
there come two woes more hereafter. And the sixth 
angel sounded, and 1 heard a voice from the four 
horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying 
to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the 



CHAPTER IX. 169 

four angels which are bound in the great river 
Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which 
were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, 
and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And 
the number of the army of the horsemen were two 
hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number 
of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, 
and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, 
and of jacinth, and brimstone : and the heads of the 
horses were as the heads of lions ; and out of their 
mouths issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone. By 
these three was the third part of men killed, by the 
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which 
issued out of their mouths. For their power is in 
their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like 
imto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do 
hurt. And the rest of the men which were not 
killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works 
of their hands, that they should not worship devils, 
and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and 
of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 
neither repented they of their murders, nor of 
their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their 
thefts.^' 

None who read and believe the description of the 
work of the locusts in tormenting men, will doubt but 
what it will be a '^ woe '' on the inhabiters of the 
earth. But it will be past ere the second woe is 
introduced ; clearly, then, they are consecutive. 

" Loose the four angels which are bound in," or hy^ 
as an instrument, bond, or limit, ^^ the great river 
Euphrates." That four angels or messengers of 
wrath are restrained by the literal River Euphrates^ 



170 THE APOCALYPSE. 

the eastern boundary of the Roman empire, awaiting 
the time appointed for their action within its bounds, 
there is no reason for doubting. They are those 
bound by angelic order, as recorded in chapter vii. 3. 
The command to loose them is said to come ^^ from one 
of the four horns of the golden altar which is before 
God,'' and on which were offered the prayers of all the 
saints with much incense. This action denotes the 
nature of those prayers, by the answer that is given 
in letting loose the judgments of God already pre- 
pared, but awaiting the proper moment to be intro- 
duced. " And the four angels were loosed.^^ The exact 
hour for them to be loosed was fixed. They were 
prepared unto an hour, day, month, and year. That 
is, the exact time for their loosing was fixed, to a 
year, a month, a day, and an hour; it is not an exact 
period during which they should act. " To slay the 
third part of men." To what extent is not stated, 
whether on the whole globe, or the Roman empire — 
the dominion of the beast, or the land of Israel. But 
to whatever extent their commission runs, one third 
part of men are to be killed by this woe. The agents 
of destruction under these four angels were to be 
horsemen, and the horses they ride. 

This army is announced to be two hundred millions . 
in number — an army equal to all the men on earth 
able to bear arms. John heard the number stated; 
he did not count them himself. Not only did he hear 



CHAPTER IX. 171 

the number, but saw the horses, and those who sat on 
them, and he proceeds to describe them as he saw 
them. Their riders had breastplates of fire, and 
jacinth, and brimstone. Jacinth is the color of the 
blue flame of brimstone. The heads of the horses 
were as the heads of lions, and out of their mouths 
issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone. Their power 
lay in their mouths and tails. By the fire, smoke, and 
brimstone suffocating those they approached, the third 
part of men was killed. 

^' Their tails were like serpents, having heads,^^ and 
with those heads attached to the serpent-hke tail, they 
do hurt. It is not said that any are killed by the 
tails, but they are hurt by them, and killed by what 
proceeds from their mouths. 

These beings, like the horses and chariots of fire 
which filled the mountains in the days of Elisha, must 
be supernatural beings, of which heaven and hell are 
full. The two witnesses of Rev. ii. are said to do 
much the same thing ; but then they are endowed by 
God for their work. 

One would suppose that such judgments would lead 
men to repent of their sins and seek mercy. But as 
it was in Egypt in the days of Pharaoh, so will it be in 
this instance ; instead of being convinced, and soften- 
ing their hearts, they are rather rendered hard and 
more obdurate than before ; and so continue to wor- 
ship demons and idols, to commit murders, fornica- 



172 THE APOCALYPSE. 

tions^ and thefts. Such is human nature when left to 
itself. Mercies and judgments alike fail to move men 
without the influence of the Holy Ghost. All the 
plagues of these six trumpets are unavailing to pro- 
duce repentance. Nothing remains, then, but for the 
final or third woe, which is to bring the judgment of 
the dead, and " destroy them that destroy the earth." 
(See chapter xi. 15-19.) 

These agents, it should be remembered, were shown 
John in his vision in heaven. Whether, in the days of 
the fulfillment, these agencies will be anymore visible 
or tangible to the natural senses than were the horses 
and chariots of fire which Gehazi^s eyes were opened 
to see in the days of Eh'sha, admits of doubt. But 
that such instrumentalities are in reserve for that 
dreadful day, admits of no doubt. How the prophet 
Elisha was defended by the fiery horses, we do not 
know; how his enemies were smitten with blindness 
by their agency, we can not comprehend ; but yet the 
fact remains — they were the prophet's defense; and 
the blindness came, and his enemies were made an 
easy prey. So we may be left in doubt and uncer- 
tainty about many things in regard to the demon 
cavalry ; but the wicked will one day feel their power, 
while the saints will have protection. 



CHAPTER X. -173 

CHAPTER X. 

Preface to the Seventh Trumpet. 

Verses 1-7. " And I saw another mighty angel come 
down from heaven, clothed with a cloud : and a rain- 
bow ivas upon his headland his face ivas as it were the 
sun, and his feet as pillars of fire : and he had in his 
hand a little book open : and he set his right foot upon 
the sea, and his left foot on the earth/and cried with a 
loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had 
cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when 
the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was 
about to write : and I heard a voice from heaven say- 
ing nnto me, Seal up those things which the. seven 
thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel 
which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, 
lifted np his hand to heaven, and sware by him that 
liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the 
things that therein are, and the earth, and the things 
that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are 
therein, that there should be time no longer : but in 
the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he 
shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be 
finished, as he hath declared to his servants the 
prophets.'^ 

The effect of the second woe in the continued impen- 
itence of the survivors of that judgment having been 
shown, it only remains now to prepare for the third 
and final woe of the series. Accordingly an angel of 
mighty power and majestic mien, clothed with a cloud, 
girt with a rainbow on his head, and his face like the 



174 THE APOCALYPSE. 

sun, descends from heaven to prepare the way. With 
an open book in his hand^ he set his right foot on the 
sea, and his left foot on the earth, and gave a cry like 
the roar of a lion, which was followed by the voice of 
seven thunders. What they said was commanded to 
be left unwritten, and sealed up. But the action and 
oath of the angel who came from heaven with the 
little open book, attracted the prophet^s attention. 
Lifting his hand to heaven, he sware by him who 
liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, earth, 
and sea, and all that is in them, " that the time shall 
not be yet '' for the mystery to end. But when the 
seventh angel begins to sound, the mystery of God in 
taking out of the Gentiles a people for his name, shall 
be finished and the judgment be completed. After 
the seventh trumpet begins to sound, there w^ill be no 
more place for repentance. He that is filthy will be 
filthy still, and he that is holy will be holy still. This 
declaration of the angel is especially notable, as afford- 
ing a clew to the correct interpretation of scenes espe- 
cially relating the ushering in of the millennial and 
eternal ages. For, following in consecutive order, as 
will be seen, comes the time of judgment and reward, 
which, in its turn, precedes the scenes recorded in the 
twentieth of Revelation : so that we would invite the 
especial attention and study of the reader and student 
to this important link in the chain of coming events. 



CHAPTER X. 175 



The Little Book eaten. 

Verses 8-11. "And the voice which I heard from 
heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take 
the little book which is open in the hand of the angel 
which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And 
I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the 
little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it 
up ; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be 
in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little 
book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up ; and it was 
in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had 
eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, 
Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and 
nations, and tongues, and kings." 

The import of this transaction seems to be, that he 
was to be thus endowed with further knowledge of 
coming events, which at first, on the reception, would 
be sweet to his taste ; for knowledge is sweet. But 
in digesting it, and coming to a full comprehension 
of its import, it would fill him with bitterness. For 
the message thus received would constrain him again 
to "prophesy concerning many people, nations, tongues, 
and kings." The duty of proclaiming messages of 
peace to men is always pleasant and grateful to the 
messenger; but when the scene changes, and the ser- 
vant of the Lord is charged with the announcement 
of judgments, it is painful to his feelings. But still 
it is as needful that he should discharge that duty as 
the more pleasing one. If he will clear his own soul, 



176 THE APOCALYPSE. 

he must speak, whether men will hear or forbear. 
The substance of the httle book is probably revealed, 
in the succeeding chapter. It may be that John is 
yet to perform service as one of the two witnesses, 
and thus fulfill his mission of prophesying again. It, 
has been suggested by many that John probably has 
never yet died, as Christ intimated that he might live 
to his coming. And indeed there is no evidence of his 
death other than a tradition somewhat similar to that 
which has given the world the impression that Peter ' 
died at Rome — a tradition which has never been able ; 
to stand the test of any critical research. And our 
Lord certainly gave occasion for believing that John 
would not die, sufiSciently strong to lead the disciples 
to believe he would not. (John xxi. 23.) 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Two Witnesses. 

Verses 1, 2. ^^ And there was given me a reed like 
unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and 
measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them 
that worship therein. But the court which is without 
the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is 
given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they 
tread under foot forty and two months.'^ 

That there are to be great events yet to transpire 
in the Holy Land and in Jerusalem, is clearly stated 



CHAPTER XI. 177 

in the eleventh chapter of Daniel. " The king of the 
North ^' is to invade and take that land ^^at the time 
of the end/' and " plant the tabernacles of his palace 
between the seas in the glorious holy mountain.^' 
(Daniel xi. 40-45.) The sanctuary and host also are 
to be cast down, and the daily sacrifice be taken away 
by the same power. Of course this necessarily im- 
plies that the sanctuary or temple is to be re-estab- 
lished in Jerusalem, and the sacrifices appointed by 
the law be offered, or it can not be taken away. 

The scene, then, of this chapter is laid in Jerusalem 
and her temple. 

''" Eise, and measure the temple,^' ^^ the altar," and 
the looTsliipers, What is intended by this measuring 
is not apparent. The interest now manifested in the 
civilized world concerning Jerusalem, and her re- 
covery from the ruin of ages, indicates a revival of 
something like her ancient glory. Her ancient in- 
habitants, the Jewish people, will be the worshipers 
in the holy court at the altar. In the outer court the 
Gentiles will approach; therefore it is not to be 
measured. For forty-two months the Gentiles are to 
tread it under foot. That is the time of the little 
horn's reign, or that of the "wild beast of the Apoca- 
lypse. And during those forty-two months' reign of 
the wild beast in Jerusalem, the temple, altar, and 
worshipers will be inviolable by the Gentiles. 
12 



178 THE APOCALYPSE. 

Verses 3-6. " And I will give power unto my two 
witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two 
hundred cmd threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 
These are the two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks 
standing before the God of the earth. And if any man 
will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and 
devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt 
them, he must in this manner be killed. These have 
power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of 
their prophecy : and have power over waters to turn 
them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, 
as often as they will.^^ 

During those forty-two months, or twelve hundred 
and sixty days, Christ will endow his two witnesses 
with power to stand against all opposing influences, 
and give testimony for him. All that is said of these 
witnesses indicates that they are two men who will 
act the part here assigned them. "These are the 
two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing be- 
fore the God of the earth.^' " The reference is to 
Zech. iv. 3, 12, where two individuals are meant, 
Joshua and Zerubbabel, who ministered to the Jewish 
church just as the two olive trees emptied the oil out 
of themselves into the bowl of the candlestick. So 
in the final apostasy, God will raise up two inspired 
witnesses to minister encouragement ''"^ to his faith- 
ful people, while at the same time they breathe out 
denunciations against a guilty and rebellious world. 
Some suppose them to be Enoch and Elijah, because 

* Faussett. 



CHAPTER XI. 179 

those two men never died ; they are evergreens. 
Others contend that they will be Moses and Elijah, 
because the nairacles and f)]agnes correspond with 
those which they inflicted. But all this is conjecture 
and speculation. Time alone will determine these 
points. These men, during the period of their work, 
will be invulnerable to all assaults. '^ If any man Avill 
hurt them, fire,'' a blast of fire, ^-'proceedeth out of 
their mouth and devouretli their enemies.'' So also, 
like Elijah, they have power to shut heaven so that 
during the days of their prophesying it will not rain 
on the earth. They also have power to do as Moses 
did in Egypt — turn water into blood; and in addition 
to that, ^^to smite the earth with alt plagues, as often 
as they will." By divine protection, they shall be 
.safe from danger of death until their work is done. 

Ve7'ses 1-11, ^^ And when they shall have finished 
their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the 
bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall 
overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies 
shall lie m the street of the great city, which spiritually 
is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was 
crucified. And they of the people, and kindreds, and 
tongues, %nd nations, shall see their dead bodies three 
days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies 
to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the 
earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and 
shall send gifts one to another ; because these two 
prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 
And after three days and a half the spirit of life from 
God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet ; 
and great fear fell upon them w^hich saw them." 



180 THE APOCALYPSE. 

^^ When tliey shall have finished,''^ Those who take 
the historical view of this passage render it ^^ when 
they shall be about to finish their testimony.'' But 
this is incongruous. Their testimony is to be twelve 
hundred and sixty days. Either they w^ill finish it or 
they will not. They are invulnerable till then. They 
can not finish it after they are killed ; they must do it 
before deathj for they ascend to heaven as soon as 
they rise. We have the true reading — " Shall have 
finished y 

" The beast.^^ Here is a reference to one already in 
existence to whom no reference has as yet been made, 
a personage not described until afterward, and thus 
the panoramic nature of the book is again illustrated. 
Their manifested invulnerability wall have so alarmed 
him that he will not dare trust a civil posse to take 
them ; and therefore he levies war against them, and 
wdth an army overcomes and kills them. " Arms shall 
stand on his part/' &c. (Dan. xi. 31.) 

^^ Their dead bodiesJ^ These are left in the street, 
a spectacle to the infuriated mob, subjected to all 
manner of indignities. Thus the whole phraseology 
of the prediction indicates that two individuals are 
meant ; not a church, or churches, or the books of the 
Old or New Testament, or anything else than just 
what is indicated by the text. 

" Great city which is spiritually," or by the Spirit, 
"called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was 



CHAPTER XT. 181 

crucified." This passage has long been an obstacle 
in the way of those who adopt the historical view of 
the Apocalypse, the consciousness of which is shown 
by the numerous and strained efforts made to make 
the words mean anything and everything but just that 
which they indicate on their face. The great city, 
say they, which is called Sodom and Egypt, where our 
Lord was crucified, is the empire of Rome. The street 
where the dead bodies of the witnesses lay for three 
days and a half, is that part of the Eoman nation 
-where (as the interpreter may hold) those churches 
or the Bible, were destroyed or prohibited. Of course 
there are other views, which need not be mentioned at 
present ; but with all there is this one great objec- 
tion: they give to a plain declaration of God's word an 
interpretation not warranted by 'the prophecy. Jeru- 
salem has been termed Sodom by the Spirit. Thus, in 
Isa i. 10, ^^ Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of 
Sodom," was said to Jerusalem on the occasion of her 
apostasy from God, and going after strange gods, dis- 
regarding the covenant which had been made be- 
tween them and Jehovah. But the succeeding clause 
settles the whole matter, ^' where also our Lord was 
Crucified." It may be objected that our Lord was not 
crucified in the city, but outside its walls ; but this is 
a quibble upon words hardly worthy attention, as with 
perfect propriety an event may be said to have oc- 
curred at a specified place, even when it may have oc- 



182 THE APOCALYPSE. 

curred a few hundred feet or a few rods without the 
boundary proper. '^ It can not be that a prophet 
perish out of Jerusalem/' Christ said of himself; but 
he did die outside the walls, on Calvary. As it was 
on the day of Pentecost, so it will be in this time ; 
representatives out of every nation under heaven 
were dwelling at Jerusalem, and heard of the wonder- 
ful w^orks of God. So they will see the dead bodies 
of these mefi lie there, and will not suffer them to be 
.buried. The news will be flashed over the wires to 
the uttermost parts of the earth that the prophets are 
dead. This will cause universal rejoicing, because of 
the plagues which they inflicted during their ministry. 
Characters so pure would naturally be hated by a 
scorning w^orld; but when, in addition to the unwel- 
come truths they so fearlessly proclaim, they inflict 
plagues and torments upon the opposers and haters 
of God, that hatred would naturally be augmented to 
an intensity only to be satisfied by the ignominious 
death of the objects of their hate. So, when the new^s 
comes that they are dead, there wnll undoubtedly come 
a burst of rejoicing over the prospect of their deliver- 
ance. But their joy wilT be. short-lived ; only three 
days and a half, and their terror will be as extreme as 
their joy had been excessive. For, to the surprise 
of their enemies, they wdll be seen suddenly to rise 
to their feet alive, the spirit of life from God having 
entered into them. 



CHAPTER XI. 183 

Verses 12, 13. ^^ And they heard a great voice from 
heaven, saying unto them. Come up hither. And they 
ascended up to heaven in a cloud ; and their enemies 
beheld them. And the same hour was there a great 
earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in 
the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: 
and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to 
the God of heaven. '^ 

The terror caused by their resurrection will be 
enhanced by the strange events which are to follow. 
A voice will call from heaven, saying, ^^ Come up 
hither.'^ And forthwith, in the presence of the as- 
sembled multitude, they will, like their Lord from the 
Mount of Olives, ascend to heaven in a cloud, while 
their enemies behold them. But this is not all ; won- 
ders and alarms thicken. The same hour of the 
ascension there will be a great earthquake, by which 
one tenth part of Jerusalem will fall and seven thou- 
sand men be slain. The survivors will be aflFrighted, 
and give glory to the God of heaven, and acknowledge 
it to be his work. But that it will lead them to repent- 
ance and saving faith is not intimated. 

The twelve hundred and sixty days of these two 
witnesses will probably cover the time of the daily 
sacrifice. But when they are removed ^''the abomi- 
nation of desolation "^ will be set up in the temple, 
and the '*' man of sin '' demand universal worship for 
twelve hundred and ninety days. Thus it will be 
seen that the period of their prophesying will be at a 



184 THE APOCALYPSE. 

time when the Jewish nation will be engaged in 
a work commenced at the instigation of Antichrist, 
Avhich is contrarj^ to the order of God's will, as under 
the new dispensation; we have reference to the sacri- 
ficial worship in the reconstructed temple. And thus 
the propriety of these two witnesses, constantly up- 
lifting their voices in the midst of the prevailing sin 
of the nations, giving utterance to the will of Jehovah. 
And why may it not be that these two witnesses 
shall be representatives, — one of the Jewish, and the 
other of the Christian church, — uniting their testi- 
monies in favor of God and his revealed word, re- 
buking the connection of the Jews with Antichrist, 
and revealing the way of God more perfectly? All 
this will take place during the sounding of the trum- 
pets, and those plagues be inflicted by the will of the 
two witnesses. For under the trumpets the wa,ters 
are turned to blood, and under the trumpets the 
dominion of the beast, which we have already seen is 
in existence at this period, extends. This ends the 
second woe and the sixth trumpet. 

The Seventh Trumpet and Third Woe. 

Verses 14-19. "The second woe is past; mid, he- 
held, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh 
angel sounded ; and there were great voices in heaven, 
saying, The kingdoms of this world are become tJie 
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and he shall 
reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty 



CHAPTER XI. 185 

elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon 
their faces, and worshiped G-od, saying, We give thee 
thanks, Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, 
and art to come ; because thou hast taken to thee thy 
great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were 
angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the 
dead, that they should be judged, and that thou 
shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, 
and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small 
and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy 
the earth. And the temple of God was opened in 
heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark 
of his testament: and there were lightnings, and 
voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great 
hail.'' 

We have seen that about the time the second woe 
ends, the angel from God comes down to prepare the 
way for the sounding of the seventh angel. We thus 
find that the third woe or seventh trumpet does not 
immediately commence 'when the second woe ends, 
but, as declared in verse 14, will come '^ quicMyJ' 

John still held his station in heaven, and at the 
blast of the seventh angel ^Houd voices were heard in 
heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the y^oaaog ^^ — globe, 
whole earth — ^' are become the kingdoms of our Lord 
{«nd of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.'' 
Here it will be seen that whatever may be the nature 
of Christ's reign, its locality is the kosmos, its duration 
is eternal, and it is to be introduced by the sounding 
of the seventh trumpet. 

This part of the passage is very frequently quoted 



186 THE APOCALYPSE. 

by those who advocate the idea of the post-millennial 
advent of Christ, as affording a very strong confirma- 
tion of their views ; but we can see no ground what- 
ever for such an assumption, for the tenor of the 
whole passage bears directly against if. In the first 
place the sounding of the seventh trumpet is to intro- 
duce a woe upon the inhabitants of a wicked world, 
while God's saints are to be rewarded for their long- 
suflFering. Now, can we suppose that any such glorious 
and blessed event as the universal conversion, of the 
world, the wicked world, to Christ can even by a 
figure of speech^ strain it as we may, be termed a woe? 
Would it not rather be a blessing such as the world 
has never yet received? 

But it may, perhaps, be urged that this is the 
signal for such an outpouring of divine judgments 
upon the nations as shall convince them of their sins, 
and bring them repentantly to the feet of the Son of 
God, that he may have mercy upon them and abun- 
dantly pardon all their transgressions. But the pas- 
sage will not admit of even such an interpretation. 
In the scenes preparatory to the sounding of this 
trumpet, the angel who stood with one foot on the 
sea and another on the earth, lifted up his hand to 
heaven and swore by the great God, the Creator of 
all things, that, " In the days of the voice of the 
seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the 
mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared 



CHAPTER XL . 187 

to his servants the prophets." These words give an 
intimation of the character of the coming scenes, 
which the passage under consideration more fully 
unfolds. After declaring that the ^^ kingdoms of this '' 
hosmos or ^' world are become the kingdoms of our 
Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever 
and ever/' the four and twenty elders '^ fell upon 
their faces before God/' and returned thanks that he 
had taken his great power, and reigned, and said, 
^' And the nations were angry, and thy wraili is come, 
and the time of the dead that they should hejudged^ and 
that thou shouldest give reivard unto thy servants the 
prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy 
name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them 
that destroy the earth.'' 

Here the character or nature of the scene is re- 
vealed. The angel declared, " delay should be no 
longer." The four and twenty elders proclaimed, ^' the 
time of the dead that they should be judged" had 
come. The angel declared that when the trumpet 
should '^ begin to sound, the mystery of God should be 
finished." The four and twenty elders declare that 
the time had come when God " should give reward 
unto his servants the prophets, and to the saints, and 
them that fear his name, small and great." This is 
the time when those souls under the altar, whose 
mournful plaint had come up into the ears of the 
Lord God of Sabaoth, saying, '^ How long, Lord, 



188 THE APOCALYPSE. 

holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our 
blood on them that dwell on the earth?'' and to whom 
it was replied, ^^ that they should rest yet for a little sea- 
sea, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, 
that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled/' 
This is the time when they should be avenged, for " the 
four and twenty elders declare that the time of God's 
wrath is come ; " . . . that he " shouldest destroy them 
that destroy the earth." With these facts fixed in our 
minds, it requires no straining or forcing of language 
to make the passage fit a preconceived theory. But 
all is rendered simple and plain. But let us ask, 
JVIien are the dead to be judged ? and when are God's 
saints to be rewarded ? Evidently at Christ's second 
advent, for it is declared he " shall judge the quick 
and the dead at his appearing." (2 Tim. iv. 1.) And 
again (1 Cor. xv. 51, 52), ^^ Behold, I show you a myste- 
ry ; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in 
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : 
for the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall 
be changed." Now, if it be objected that this trum- 
pet is not the one referred to in Revelation, we reply, 
that the word last implies a series, and we can find no 
other series than these seven, the last of which brings 
us to an event which certainly is very similar to that 
spoken of in 1 Cor. xv. 

Taking all these facts, then, into consideration, there 
is no evidence whatever that these kingdoms become 



CHAPTER XII. • 189 

Christ's by submission, but rather that the words of 
the second Psalm are fulfilled — "Ask of me, and I 
shall give the heathen for thine inheritance, and the 
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou 
shalt break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash 
them in piece3 like a potter's vessel." 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Woman, Man Child, and Dragon. 

« 
Verses 1-6. " And there appeared a great wonder in 
heaven ; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon 
under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve 
stars: and she, being with child, cried, travailing in 
biith, and pained to be delivered. And there ap- 
peared another wonder in heaven ; and behold, a great 
red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and 
seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the 
third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to 
the earth : and the dragon stood before the woman 
which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her 
child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth 
a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of 
iron : and her child was caught up unto God, and to 
his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, 
where she hath a place prepared of God, that they 
should feed her there a thousand two hundred and 
threescore days.^' 

"^ great sign, in heaven^ A sign is not the real 
thing, but a symbol of a reality. This woman, then, 
is, instead of a real woman, a symbol of something 



190 THE APOCALYPSE. 

else. In Daniel's vision of the eighth chapter, he saw 
a ram and a goat ; they were signs or symbols of some- 
thing else, which he did not see. What they symbol- 
ized, the angel thus informed the prophet : " The ram 
which thou sawest, having two horns, are the kings 
of Media and Persia. The rough goat is the king of 
Grecia." The ram and goat were the signs or sym- 
bols, and the kings of Media and Persia were the 
things symbolized. The conflict of the two beasts, 
one with the other, symbolized just as actual a con- 
flict between the respective powers which they rep- 
resented. 

Here the sign is a woman in a pregnant condition, 
resulting in the birth of a man child. Who or what 
does the woman signify ? for it is evident that she sym- 
bolizes something else, otherwise she would not have 
been called a sign. The prevailing interpretation is, 
that she signifies the church, some holding the child, 
of which she was delivered, to he Christy others that 
he was Coiistantine the Great. The objections to 
either of these theories are, first, that what was to be 
shown to John in heaven was ^^ things which must be 
hereafter." Christ's birth preceded the vision by a hun- 
dred years. Secondly, the church is the product of 
Christ, and not Christ of the church. Thirdly, the at- 
tempt to apply it to Constantino is grossly absurd, and 
introduces the utmost confusion. 

Is there any more consistent interpretation ? Let 



CHAPTER Xlt. 191 

US inquire, What does a woman symbolize in Scripture ? 
In Rev. xvii. 18, a woman is used to symbolize ^Hhat 
great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth/^ 
If in that case a woman symbolizes a city, why not here? 
Paul's allegory (Gal. iv.) will perhaps shed light on the 
subject. Sarah and Hagar, he says, are an allegory ; 
they are, or represent, the two covenants — Hagar the 
old covenant from Mount Sinai, which brings forth 
children to bondage. This answers to old ^^ Jerusalem 
which is in bondage '' to the law, '^ with her children." 
Hence our Savior recognized her as the mother of the 
Jewish race. (Matt, xxiii. 37.) Sarah represents ^^the 
Jerusalem which is above, and is free, and is the 
mother " of all saints. In order to reach their home 
and mother, they must be born into immortality. 

Isa. Ixvi. 7-9 will shed still further light on the 
subject. It is Zion and her children of whom the 
prophet is speaking. He says of her, that ^' before 
her pain came she was delivered," not, as in our 
translation, '^ of a man child," but literally ^^ of a juale,^^ 
implying full strength and maturity, contrary to all 
example in nature. He asks, in reference to this 
wonder, ^^ Who hath heard such a thing ? Who hath 
seen such things?" The implied answer is. No 
one. 

Next he asks, in reference to the birth of all Zion's 
children, '' Shall the earth be made to bring forth in 
one day ? or shall a nation be born at once ? " Again 



192 THE APOCALYPSE. 

the implied answer is, No. The productions of the 
earth are brought forth gradually, by slow progress. 
A nation is born one by one. But, contrary to nature, 
^^ as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her chil- 
dren '' into immortality in one moment, in the twin- 
kling of an eye. 

As Isa. Ixvi. 7 represents Zion as bringing forth a 
Zachar^ a malej one of full strength, which can only 
be to immortality, so this woman of the Apocalypse 
brings forth viov aQQeva — a son, a male, not a 
child, but one of full strength. 

According to these collateral passages, the new 
covenant, Chri8tianity,.which produces children of the 
New Jerusalem, is the woman of this chapter. She is 
clothed with the sun, the glorious gospel light ; she 
stands on the law and the prophets, the lesser light ; 
her crown of glory is her twelve apostles. Her child 
is A MALE SON — a Strange form of expression, if it 
were not intended to convey the idea of maturity and 
full strength at birth, for son implies a iiiale of itself. 
If it were not for the fact that these revelations were 
of things to come to pass after the days of John, we 
might understand it as referring to the resurrection 
of Christ, and his ascension into heaven to the throne 
of God. But this fact stands in the way. Another 
difficulty is, the immediate flight of the woman after 
the rapture of her son. There are two arguments in 
favor of understanding the scene as having reference 



CHAPTER XIL 193 

to Christ. First, he was tlie first born to immortali- 
ty, and caught up to God^s throne. Secondly, he is to 
*^ rule all nations with a rod of iron.'^ (Ps. ii.-9.) So 
that the argument seems to be evenly balanced for 
and against its being Christ. 

There is another view, which has at least some 
plausibility, and which we are inclined to adopt. In 
chapter xiv. 1-5, we are introduced to one hundred 
and forty-four thousand standing on Mount Zlon, with 
. tlie Lamb, before the throne of God. These are " re- 
deemed from among men/^ and " from the earth,'^ ^^ be- 
ing the first fruits unto God and the Lamb.'' These 
are Christ's retinue, or body-guard, ^^ for they follow 
the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.'^ Are they not the 
overcomers who have the promise of ruling and 
breaking the nations with a rod of iron ? Does not 
the bringing forth of a male son imply such transla- 
tion before the general translation? The change to 
immortality takes place ; Satan, aware of it, stands 
ready to devour this heavenly offspring immediately 
after his birth. But he is delivered by being caught 
away to God and his throne. 

The Dragon. 

The great red dragon is another sign in heaven. 

What he symbolizes we are told in verse 9. He is 

" that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, and 

which deceiveth the whole world.'' Why the idea 

13 



194 THE APOCALYPSE. 

ever obtained credence that he represents the Roman 
empire is passing strange in the light of this divine 
interpretation of the symbol. 

But it is asked, What do his seven heads and ten 
horns represent, if he is the devil ? We reply, What do 
the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb represent 
in chapter v. 6, " which are the seven spirits of God " ? 
They are Christ^s hierarchy. So, also, the devil has 
his dignitaries, thrones, dominions, and principalities 
in the heavens, and these heads and horns represent 
them. 

The third part of the stars of heaven, who were 
drawn by the dragon's tail, are angels seduced from 
their allegiance by his subtlety. 

The dragon stood before the woman, the symbol of 
Christianity, or new covenant, to devour her child as 
soon as it was born,. or changed to immortality. "And 
her child was caught away unto God and to his 
throne.^' As soon as the child was taken to heaven, 
the woman fled into the wilderness. '^ Where the 
wilderness is may not be manifest to us ; but it is " a 
place prepared of God '' as a refuge for her. There, 
for twelve hundred and sixty days, she is to be fed 
and sustained. It may be Moab. (See Isa. xvi. 3-5.) 
It may be that God has raised up Prussia to her pres- 
ent strength as a refuge. But a place he will have 
when the time comes. 



• CHAPTER XII. 195 

Verses 7-12. '^And there was war in heaven: 
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon 
and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed 
not ; neither was their place found any more in heav- 
en. And the great dragon was cast out, that old ser- 
pent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the 
whole world : he was cast out into the earth, and his 
angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud 
voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and 
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power 
of his Christ : for the accuser of our brethren is cast 
down, which accused them before our God day and 
night. And they overcame him by the blood of the 
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and they 
loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore re- 
joice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe 
to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea ! for the 
devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, be- 
cause he knoweth that he hath but a short time.'' 

As far back as the days of Job we have information 
of the appearance of Satan in the council-chamber of 
heaven, to accuse God's servants. Job was accused of 
hypocrisy, serving God for the good things he enjoyed 
And it would seem from this passage that Satan has 
continued to act the part of an accuser until now. 
But his attempt to seize and devour by violence an 
immortal saint brings on a crisis even in heaven ; and 
Michael the Archangel rouses his squadrons to 
arms, and gives battle to the dragon and his hosts, 
when he and his angels are discomfited, and driven 
forever from the heavenly courts into the earth. 



196 . THE APOCALYPSE. 

While the accuser has had access to the throne, the 
saints have had an advocate there, and through his 
blood and the word of their testimony they have over- 
come all his accusations. ^' They loved not their lives 
even unto the death.'' Sooner than relinquish their 
testimony for Christ they have been willing to lay 
down their lives, not counting that as a service of 
merit, but trustingto the blood of Christ for salvation. 

No sooner was the devil driven from the heavenly 
courts than great voices were heard in heaven, say- 
ing, " Now is come salvation, and strength, and the 
kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ ; for 
the accuser of our brethren is cast down.'' Thus 
Christ's victories begin in heaven, and the kingdom of 
God is first established there. Thus our Lord taught. 
'^ The kingdom of heaven is like a nobleman who went 
into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom 
and to return." " And when he was returned, having 
received the kingdom," Clearly he will receive his 
kingdom ere he returns. 

Then heaven and its inhabitants are called on to 
rejoice, because Satan is cast down. And for the 
same reason the inhabitants of the earth and sea are 
warned of coming woe, because the devil is come to 
earth in great wrath, for he knoweth that he has but a 
short time before he will be confined in the bottomless 
pit, and his career of deception and wickedness be 
ended for a thousand years. 



CHAPTER XII. 197 

Verses 13-17. ''And when the dragon saw that he 
was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman 
which broug:ht forth the man child. And to the wo- 
man were given two wings of a great eagle, that she 
might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where 
she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, 
from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast 
out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, 
that he might cause her to be carried away of the 
flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the 
earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood 
which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the 
dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make 
war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the 
commandments of God, and have the testimony of 
Jesus Christ.'^ 

It is when the dragon finds himself hurled from the 
battlements of heaven into the earth that his wrath is 
turned against the woman^ and he determines to utter- 
ly destroy her from the face of the earth. To her are 
then '' given two wings of a great eagle," implying 
strength of motion and swiftness of flight, to escape 
the devil's power, and reach the place prepared for 
her of God, where she is to be nourished for a time, 
times, and a half, or twelve hundred and sixty literal 
days, from the face of the serpent. 

Some argue that the two wings of a great eagle in- 
dicate the United States as the place of refuge for 
Christianity in that time of peril, because the eagle 
is our symbol. As to its correctness we have nothing 
to say. 



198 THE APOCALYPSE. 

The time of flight seems to be that specified by 
Christ (Matt. xxiv. 15-20), when the " abomination of 
desolation '^ shall be seen in the holy place. It is 
from Judea they are to flee. That country is usually 
designated as the yij, geCj land. It was into it the 
devil was cast when hurled from heaven. As she 
flees, the dragon pursues her with a flood cast forth 
from his mouth, to carry her away. But it is all in 
vain. The p] (land) helped the woman by opening 
her mouth, and swallowing the flood cast from the 
dragon's mouth. Waters symbolize people and raulti- 
iiideSj &c. (See ch. xvii. 15.) Earth may open her 
mouth again, as she did in the days of Moses, to swal- 
low up his enemies ; and they who pursue the woman 
go down alive into the pit, as did Korah and his com- 
pany. But in whatever way, the woman will be pro- 
tected from the devil's power. 

But a rennnant of the woman's seed remain, who do 
not flee, and to them the serpent turns his attention, 
and goes to make war on them. They seem to be 
Christian Jews, keeping the commandments of God, 
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, like the early 
Christian Jews. In order to successfully prosecute 
his war on the remnant of the woman's seed, he ar- 
ranges with the beast of chapter xiii. a plan by which 
that monster shall have what Satan proposed to give 
to Jesus as the price of his worship, and finds a ready 
listener and tool, to whom he assigns a throne, power , 
and great authority. 



CHAPTER xiir. 199 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Resurrected Beast like a Leopard. 

Verses 1-4. ^* And I stood upon the sand of the sea, 
and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven 
heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, 
and upon liis heads the name of blasphemy. And the 
beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet 
were as the feet of a beai;, and his moiith as the mouth 
of a lion : and the dragon gave him his power, and his 
seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads 
as it were wounded to death ; and his deadly wound 
was healed: and all the world wondered after the 
beast. And they worshiped the dragon, which gave 
power unto the beast : and they worshiped the beast, 
saying. Who is like unto the beast? who is able to 
make war with him ? '^ 

Some manuscripts render the first clause of the first 
verse of this chapter in the third person : ^^He stood,'' ' 
that is, the dragon, '^ on the sand of the sea ; and I 
saw a beast rise up out of the sea.'' The idea is this : 
The devil, cast from heaven to earth, and determined 
to make war on the remnant of the woman's seed, 
perches himself on the shores of the sea (the Mediter- 
ranean), and casts about him to see what instrument 
he can find suited to his purpose. While thus watch- 
ing, a beast from the bottomless pit is seen emerging 
from the sea, and he resolves to make him his confed- 
erate, and so approaches him. The description and 



200 THE APOCALYPSE. 

appendages of this beast are very singular. First, he 
is like a leopard, the same as Daniel's third beast. 
(See Dan. vii.) Secondly, he has seven heads, — 
just as many as all Daniel's four beasts, — for the 
first, the one like a lion, had one head ; the second, 
the same ; the third, the one like a leopard, had four 
heads; and the nondescript had one head; seven in 
all. Thirdly, he had ten horns, the same number of 
DaniePs fourth beast. This beast like a leopard had 
previously existed, but had 'been killed by a deadly 
wound given to one of his heads ; but, as he now ap- 
pears again, the deadly wound is healed, and his re- 
appearance fills the world with wonder. The bear's 
feet, the lion's mouth, the fourth beast's horns, were all 
his. All these appendages indicate that he, in his res- 
urrected state, is to be the head of all the former 
dominions of the four beasts, and rule them all. " His 

power shall be mighty," said Gabriel (Dan. viii. 24) ; 

n 
^* but not by his own power ; " for " his power, throne, 

and great authority " are derived from the dragon, 

who gives them to him as the price of his worship, 

just as he promised them to Christ at the same price. 

Christ rejected, and the beast accepts the offer. Not 

the beast alone worships the dragon who gave power 

to him, but his subjects also, for they worshiped the 

dragon ; also they worshiped the beaa»t as well as the 

dragon, saying, "Who is like the beast? who is able 

to make war with him ? " With the power of the 



CHAPTER XIII. 201 

dragon to second him, he and his subjects feel them- 
selves confident of their prowess and ability to cope 
with the whole world. Armed with this power, as we 
learn from Dan. viii. 25, ^^ He shall magnify himself 
in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he 
shall also stand up against tbe Prince of princes ; but 
he shall be broken without hand." 

The almost universal theory that this beast is the 
Roman government, its seven heads the seven differ- 
ent forms of that government, the ten horns the bar- 
barian kingdoms, and its forty-two months of power 
to make war on the saints twelve hundred and sixty 
years of papal rule, is irreconcilable with the fact of 
its being like a leopard restored to life. The beast 
representative of the Roman power was unlike all 
others — a nondescript; whereas ^Hhe beast like a 
leopard " was undeniably the symbol of the Grecian 
dominion. That the Grecian kingdom of Syria is 
destined to be the ruling power of the earth in the 
last days, or, ^^ at the time of the end,'^ is clearly 
taught in Daniel, eighth and eleventh chapters. The 
ten kings of the Roman dominion are to give their 
power,, strength, and kingdom to the beast, as we are 
told in Rev. xvii. That the little horn of the goat 
(Dan. viii.) is to ^^ wax exceeding great toward the 
south, toward the east, and toward the pleasant land,^' 
we are also informed ; so that he will hold Palestine, 
Egypt, Chaldea, Media, and Persia, and rule over 



202 THE APOCALYPSE. 

them ; in short, hold the dominion of the four beasts 
of Daniel. Thus the great image of Nebuchadnezzar's 
dream (Dan. ii.) will be so reconstructed under his 
power that when the stone shall smite the image on 
his feet, " the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and 
the gold will all be broken to pieces together, and be- 
come like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor.'' 
Thus this '' beast like a leopard ^' is not a new or fftli 
universal monarchy, as some argue that it would con- 
stitute, but a combination of the elements of the four 
under " one of the heads '^ of the leopard, who is re- 
stored to life by the healing of the deadly wound of 
one of the heads, which is the Syrian head, called in 
Dan. xi. ^Hhe king of the north.'' He is identical 
with the little horn of the goat, which came out of 
one of the four horns, and is therefore the Antichrist, 
for that horn is to stand up against the Prince of 
princes. 

Verses 5-8. " And there was given unto him a mouth 
speaking great things and blasphemies ; and power 
was given unto him to continue forty a?i(i two months. 
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, 
to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them 
that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to 
make war with the saints, and to overcome them : and 
power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, 
and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall 
worship him, whose names are not written in the book 
of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the 
world." 



CHAPTER xm. 203 

In this passage we identify the beast with the little 
horn of Dan. vii. He has the mouth of that horn ; he 
speaks the words of that horn ; he has the blasphemy 
of that horn ; he has the war-making power against 
the saints of that horn ; he has the times of that horn 
— forty and two months, three and a half years. 
Hence that liorn is not, as has often been contended, 
the symbol of the papacy, but of the Grecian beast 
restored to life. The characteristic of this beast will 
be seen to be identical with the man of sin (2 Tbess. 
ii.), and the willful king of Dan. xi. 36-39, who is the 
'^ king of the north.'' This introduces a radical change 
in Apocalyptical interpretation. 

Power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, 
and nations. This is the same grant of universal 
power given to Nebuchadnezzar in Jer. xxvii. and 
Dan. ii. : " Wherever the children of men dwell, the 
beasts of the field, or the fowls of heaven, he hath 
given into thy hand, and made thee ruler over them 
all.'' Whether this power embraces more territory 
than the four kingdoms time alone will determine. 

The extent of worship is another point. ^' All that 
dwell on the yr^^ " {eartlij land) ^' shall worship him.'' 
This word is more frequently used to designate Pales- 
tine than otherwise ; whether it is here to be restrict- 
ed to that locality it will be difficult to determine. 
One consideration seems rather to give it that restric- 
tion. It is Christ's instruction, in Matt. xxiv. 15, 16, 



204 THE APOCALYPSE. 

"When, therefore, ye shall see the abomination of 
desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in 
the holy place/' &c., " then let them which he in Judea 
flee to the mountains." This seems to intimate that 
escape from that land will be escape from the claims 
of the beast and his image. That its influence will 
be restricted to that country is no ways likely ; it will 
be world-wide in its extent, but more terrible in Pales- 
tine. 

There is but one safeguard against being overcome 
by tlie demands of this beast for worship ; that is, to 
have our names ^' written in the Lamb's book of life," 
which means, to be the true children of God. 

^' Slain from the foundation of the world.'' In the 
purpose of God, Christ was slain, offered a sacrifice 
for sin, " from the foundation of the world," ever since 
sin entered the world, ^^ but made manifest in these 
last times for you who by him do believe in God, 
which gave him glory, and raised him from the dead." 
To have refuge in Christ by faith, then, should be 
Avith us the all-absorbing interest, for thus we shall be 
safe whatever ills may come. 

Verses 9, 10. " If any man have an ear, let him 
hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into' 
captivity : he that killeth with the sword must be 
killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the 
faith of the saints." 

This address to those who have an ear is of univer- 



CHAPTER XIII. 205 

sal application, and is of vast importance. The tenth 
verse is rendered much more clearly by the American 
Bible Union than in the common English version. 
*^ If any one is for captivity, he goes into captivity ; 
if any to be killed by the sword, he must be killed 
with the sword.'' This is further illustrated by Jer. 
XV. 1, 2. ^^ Cast them forth out of my sight, and let 
them go forth. And it shall come to pass, if they say 
unto thee, Whither shall we go forth ? then shalt thou 
tell them, such as are for death to death; and such as 
are for the sword to the sword ; and such as are for 
the famine to the famine ; and such as are for the 
captivity to the captivity." Whatever is their doom, 
it will come upon them. It is the award of the judg- 
ment of God, for it ^^ must begin at the house of God.'' 
And ^^ here is the [trial of] the patience and faith of the 
saints " under the reign of the beast, and his forty-two 
months' war. 

Another Beast. 

Verses 11-17. " And I beheld another beast coming 
up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, 
and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the 
power of the first beast before him, and causeth the 
earth and them which dwell therein to worship the 
first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he 
doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come 
down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 
and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the 
means of those miracles which he had power to do in 



206 THE APOCALYPSE. 

the sight of the beast ; saying to them that dwell on 
the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, 
which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And 
he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, 
that the image of the beast should both speak, and 
cause that as many as would not worship the image 
of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, 
both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to 
receive a mark in their right hand, or in their fore- 
heads : and that no man might buy or sell, save he 
that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the 
number of his name.'' 

This beast, or government, comes up after the seven- 
headed leopard beast springs from the bottomless pit 
through the sea, and is the accomplice of his prede- 
cessor. His whole business seems to be to bring the 
world under the power and dominion of the first beast. 
Who he is, or what the peculiar form of his govern- 
ment will be, is not clearly manifest beyond this : He 
" had two horns," implying two branches, in some 
shape, to his dominion. The horns are lamb-like; but 
that is his only lamb-like quality, for he is to " speak 
like a dragon.'- Evidently he is also the false prophet 
so frequently spoken of in subsequent parts of the 
book, for he, like that personage, performs miracles 
in the presence of the beast to deceive mankind, and 
induce the worship of the beast. The old theory that 
the first beast is the Roman Papacy, and the false 
prophet Mohammedanism, is entirely untenable, for 
Mohammedanism never played into the hands of the 



CHAPTER XIII. 207 

pope. Oil the contrary, the papacy and Mohammedans 
have always been the most determined opponents. This 
beast, the false prophet, does play into the hands of^ 
the first beast, saying that they should worship the 
first beast, who had the deadly wound by the sword, 
and whose deadly wound was healed. 

This beast exercises in his very presence all the 
power of the first beast. '' He causes the land and 
all who dwell therein to worship the first beast.'' 

He is a miracle-worker ; so that " he doeth great 
signs," as Jesus said the false prophets and ialse 
Christs, who should exist in the days of tribulation, 
would do, so as to ^^ deceive, if possible, the very 
elect.'' He, like the prophet Elijah in his day, will 
cause fire to come from heaven in the sight of men, 
and thus, with signs and wonders, deceive and lead 
them astray. He, too, is to command an image to be 
made, the same as did Nebuchadnezzar, as an object of 
worship. The image is to be that of the beast, and 
for his benefit. So we are told (Dan. xi. 38, 39) the 
king of the north will do — acknowledge a strange god, 
and increase him with glory, while he himself claims 
to be God, and an object of worship. 

This two-horned beast not only commands the image 
of the beast to be made, but he has power to give a 
living, intelligent spirit to the image, that it should 
speak. Paber's image, which has for the last score 
of years astonished the world by his loquacious 



208 THE APOCALYPSE. 

powers, is moved to speak by outside' force and intel- 
ligence. But take the same image, or one more per- 
fect and automatic/and invest it with a spirit, intel- 
ligent and self-acting, like p^anc/^ef^e, and self-speaking, 
and let such an image command that all who will not 
worship him shall be killed, and we should be in the 
midst of terrors. 

But all this the image is to do/ and more also. For 
he is to ordain and cause that all, small and great, 
rich and poor, free and bond, ^^ shall receive a mark 
in their right hand or in their forehead,'^ so that, 
when any one goes to market and is challenged to pro- 
duce his mark, he must do it, or he can " neither buy 
nor sell.^' This mark seems to be a brand containing 
the name of the beast ; and its reception will be an 
act of allegiance to him. It will be the beast^s 
name, the beast's mark, and the number of the beast^s 
name, all in one. 

Verse IS, "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath 
understanding count the number of the beast : for it 
is the number of a man ; and his number is six hun- 
dred threescore and six.'^ 

Each letter of the Greek alphabet is a numeral. 
The number of a man's name is the numerical power 
of the letters composing his name, summed up. The 
beast will be a Greek power ; so, in all likelihood, his 
mark will be his name in Greek, and be imposed on 



CHAPTER XIV. 209 

all his subjects: The numerical power of the letters 
composing his name will be six hundred threescore 
and six. Let him who has sufficient wisdom count 
his number. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Hundred and Forty-four Thousand of First 
Fruits. 

Verses 1-5. " And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood 
on the mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty 
and four thousand, having his Father's name writ- 
ten in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from 
heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the 
voice of a great thunder : and I heard the voice of 
harpers harping with their harps. And they sung as 
it were a new song before the throne, and before the 
four beasts, and the elders : and no man could learn 
that song but the hundred and forty and four thou- 
sand, which were redeemed from the earth. These 
are they which were not defiled with women ; for they 
are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb 
whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from 
among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the 
Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile : for 
they are without fault before the throne of God.'' 

The subject of these verses constitutes a scene by 
itself. The scene is laid in heaven, for the new song 
is sung before the throne ; and the singers are re- 
deemed from the earth. Hence the Lamb and his 
retinue are on the mount Sion, in heaven — not on 
14 



210 THE APOCALYPSE. 

earth. They are the same hundred and forty-four 
thousand who were sealed in their foreheads with the 
seal of the living God, as described in chapter seven ; 
then they were to be exposed to dangers and tempta- 
tions, and the seal afforded them protection. Now 
they are redeemed from earth, and from among men, 
by being translated to heaven, and united to Christ, 
their head ; the name of their Father still being 
written in their foreheads. 

The sound of the voice out of heaven, and the sound 
of harpers harping with their harps, is the voice, 
harp, and song of the hundred and forty-four thousand ; 
and it is a song peculiar to themselves, which they alone 
are able to learn. These only, at this point are shown 
to the seer as " redeemed from the earth.'^ That 
they do not constitute the body of the saints of earth, 
is determined by the fact, that they are first fruits, 
which implies a subsequent harvest. And furthermore, 
that subsequent harvest is introduced to us in verses 
14-16, when the ^* Son of Man ^' comes on the white 
cloud to reap that harvest. 

Why these are permitted such honor is because 
of their virgin purity of character. These follow the 
Lamb whithersoever he goeth. They are his body- 
guard and retinue, and will be such when he descends 
from heaven for the conquest of the earth in the 
battle of that great day of God Almighty. In their 
mouth was found no falsehood ; for they are blameless. 
Such is the history of this strange company. 



CHAPTER XIV. 211 

The law ordained two offerings of first fruits of the 
earth, and they are to be regarded as types of things 
to come. 

1. "On the morrow after the Sabbath/' in the time 
of the passover, a sheaf of first fruits of the harvest 
was to be gathered and presented to the priest to 
w^ave before the Lord, for a wave-offering. And they 
were not permitted to eat even green ears of corn 
until this was done. (Lev. xxiii. 9-12.) 

This type was fulfilled at the time of Christ's resur- 
rection, which took place ^' on the morrow after the 
Sabbath/' when " many bodies of the saints which 
slept arose and came out of their graves after his 
resurrection.'' (Matt, xxvii. 50-53.) Thus he was 
^Hhe first born among many brethren." 

2. But fifty days after this offerings on the day of 
pentecost, a new meat-offering, of first fruits, in the 
form of a wave loaf, was to be brought and waved for 
a wave-offering before the Lord. (Lev. xxiii. 15-20.) 

As the first offering of first fruits had its antitype 
in the resurrection of a goodly company of saints, 
why may not the latter have its accomplishment by a 
translation of one hundred and forty-four thousand 
living saints to heaven before the general harvest ? 

The Three Angels and their Message. 

Verses 6, 7. " And I saw another angel fly in the 
midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to 



212 THE APOCALYPSE. 

preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to 
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people^ 
saying with a loud voice. Fear God, and give glory to 
him ; for the hour of his judgment is come : and wor- 
ship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, 
and the fountains of waters." 



A new scene here opens, consisting of six parts: 
the first angel, who proclaims, the judgment come; the 
second angel, who proclaims, Babylon fallen ; the third 
angel, who warns against the beast, his image, worship, 
mark, and riame, and tells the consequence of yielding 
to his claims — the voice from heaven, with the Spirit's 
testimony as to the blessedness of the dead who die 
in the Lord from that time ; the Son of Man on the 
white cloud to reap earth's harvest; another angel 
to gather the clusters of the vine of earth and tread 
the wine-press. Such are the six parts of this vision. 

The angel flying mid-heaven is not, as many believe, 
the symbol of the universal message of grace. But 
he bears the announcement that " the hour of God^s 
judgment is corned This refers to the sitting of the 
court of heaven, and the assumption of the sealed 
book by the Lamb, in order to open it. The angel 
does not bear " the everlasting gospel," but ^^ an ever- 
lasting gospel; " a gospel of eternal judgment. If it 
is asked how the announcement of the judgment 
having come can be good news to sinners, or to all 
nations, when it will seal their doom, the answer 



CHAPTER XIV. 213 

is, in the same way that it is good news when Christ's 
instruction to his ministers is fulfilled, *^ Go ye into 
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 
He that believeth.and is baptized shall be saved, and 
he that believeth not shall be damn^d.^^ It is good 
news to the believer, and a message of terror to the 
unbeliever. So with this angePs message of judg- 
ment. It is good news to the saint, but will fill the 
sinner with terror. This angel will probably be a 
literal angel, who will announce his message to all the 
world with authority and power; as literal as the 
one who announced the gospel of our Saviour's birth. 
The message is most solemn and awakening. He pro- 
claims, saying, '^ Fear God and give glory to him, for 
the hour of his judgment is come.'' The command, or 
exhortation, to fear and give glory to God, does not 
imply conversion. Joshua used the same language to 
Achan, when convicted of crime for which he was to 
suffer death. He said, ^* My son, give, I pray thee, 
glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession 
unto him." And yet, if aught can alarm and lead to 
repentance lost sinners, one would think such an 
announcement from heaven would do it. ^^ Worship 
him who made the universe." Such a proclamation 
must fill the world with dismay. But it will soon be 
forgotten, and men go heedlessly ou. 



214 THE APOCALYPSE. 



The Second Angel. — Babylon fallen. 

Verse 8. " And there followed another angel, say- 
ing, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because 
she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of 
her fornication." 

This angel flies while the beast is yet in his 
strength ; for it is he, who, with the ten kings, is to 
burn Babylon with fire, after making her desolate and 
naked, and eating her flesh, or plundering her of her 
wealth. The reason w^hy her doom is pronounced, is 
because " she made all nations drunk with the wine of 
her fornication." The particulars of her fall are given 
in chapter xvii. 18, 19. There we learn that her fall 
consists of two parts: 1. By the wild beast and ten 
kings ; 2. By the direct visitation of the Almighty. 

The Solemn Warning against the Beast. 

Verses 9-11. "And the third angel followed them, 
saying with a loud voice. If any man worship the 
beast and his image, and receive his mark in his fore- 
head, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine 
of the wrath of God, which is poured out without 
mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall 
be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence 
of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb : 
and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever 
and ever : and they have no rest day nor night, who 
worship the beast and his image, and whosoever re- 
ceiveth the mark of his name.^' 



CHAPTER XlTo 215 

The A. B. Union render this, '^ And another, a 
third angel, followed them,^' &c. They are then a 
series, for they follow each other. But how long a 
time is to elapse between the proclamation of each 
is not intimated ; but probably some considerable 
time. The message of this third angel is a most 
important one ; and in order to be of service to men, 
it must be while the beast and his image are en- 
forcing their claims on pain of death or disfranchise- 
ment. For it proclaims the terrible penalty of wor- 
shiping the beast or his image, or of receiving his 
mark in the forehead or hand. That penalty is, " to 
drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured 
out without mixture into the cup of his wrath.'' It is 
judgment without mercy or mitigation of pain. The 
Psalmist spoke of this cup of wrath (Ps. Ixxv. 8). This 
cup, it will be seen, is mixed ; " it is full of mixture ; '' 
and this he pours out for some. But to this there is no 
mixture. The unmitigated wrath of God is thus de- 
scribed. With a loud voice the angel proclaims, '' If 
any one worships the beast and his image, and re- 
ceives his mark in his forehead or on his hand, he 
also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which 
is poured out without mixture into the cup of his 
wrath.'' The cup will consist of this, " and shall be 
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of 
the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." 
This is not extinction of being,*^or unconsciousness, 



216 THE APOCALYP^. 

but torment. This does not end the threat. He pro- 
ceeds. "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up 
for ever and ever.'' What ! will they never find rest 
from that torment, even by cessation of being? No, 
never. " They have no rest, day nor night, who wor- 
ship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives 
the mark of his name.'' The eternity of torment can 
be expressed in no stronger terms than those used in 
this awful proclamation. 

Many there are, in our day, who do not hesitate to 
say, ^' I cannot and will not worship or love a God 
who will inflict such unending punishment on his 
creatures." But there it stands in God's revelation 
of his purpose ; and there is a high degree of prob- 
abihty that he will make his word good, as he always 
has done in the past ; and when it comes to pass, if 
the same spirit of rebellion reigns in their hearts, they 
can only join the beast in his war against God and 
the Lamb, in the battle of that great day of God Al- 
mighty, when " the beast and the kings of the earth 
and their armies are gathered together to make war 
on him that sits on the horse and his army." 

" Be ye reconciled to God ! " 

Verse 12. " Here is the patience of the saints : here 
are they that keep the commandments of God, and the 
faith of Jesus." 

This is a reference to chapter xii. 17, where we are 



CHAPTER XIV. 217 

told that the dragon went to make war " on the 
remnant of the woman's seed who keep the command- 
ments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ ; '' 
and also to chapter xiii. 10 ; for it is under this beast's 
administration that the dragon's war is waged, and 
their faith and patience tested and developed ; some by 
enduring death, and others by enduring the torments 
invented by the beast, the false prophet, and image. 

The Blessedness of dying in the Loed. 

Verse 13. ^* And I heard a voice from heaven, say- 
ing unto me. Write, Blessed are the dead which die in 
the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that 
they may rest from their labors ; and their works do 
follow them.'' 

This voice, too, comes out of heaven, saying, 
^^ Happy are the dead who die in the Lord hence- 
forth; " that ig^ those who die in the Lord from this 
time, the time of the beast's war against the saints to 
fill up the rest of the martyrs' brethren who shall be 
killed as they were ; whose souls were seen under 
the altar in heaven, when the fifth seal was opened. 
Then they were to rest a little season ; but when the 
beast has done his work and the number is full, they 
all stand before the throne clothed in white stoles, and 
are eternally blessed. 1. They rest from their labors. 
2. Their works follow them. 

Verses 14-16. ^^ And I looked, and behold, a white 



218 THE APOCALYPSE. 

cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of 
man, havmg on his head a golden crown, and in his 
hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came ou*t of 
the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat 
on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the 
time is come for thee to reap ; for the harvest of the 
earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in 
his sickle on the earth ; and the earth was reaped.^' 

" They shall. see the Son of man comiug in a cloud 
with power and great glory,'' said Jesus. (Luke xxi. 
27.) Such is the scene here presented — the Son of 
Man on a white cloud, coming with the command to 
reap the harvest of the earth. 

" The harvest is the end of the world, the reapers 
are the angels.'' 

Here Christ is seen with his crown of gold, but 
also with a sharp sickle to reap the harvest, and take 
it to his garner. It is " in the clouds of heaven " he 
is coming to " gather together his elect from the four 
winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matt, 
xxiv. 31.) 

The court described in the fourth chapter conducts 
the whole proceeding ; sometimes an elder speaks ; 
sometimes a living creature ; again, he w^ho sits on the 
throne. And, anon, an angel is dispatched from the 
throne with a message. So, here, while the Messiah 
is seated on his cloudy chariot, ready to move forward 
on his mission of love to his saints, an angel proceeds 
from the temple with a message to the Son of God, 



CHAPTER XIV. 219 

proclaiming that the hour has arrived for him to put 
in his sickle, and reap the precious fruits of his 
harvest-field. 

At that announcement, the chariot of cloud moves 
earthward, and with a shout, with the voice of the 
archangel, and the trump of God, dead and living, the 
elect of God, in one twinkling of an eye, are caught 
up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; 
and so shall they ever be with the Lord, And thus 
'^ the earth was reaped." The wheat are gathered 
into the garner. For ^^ the good seed are the children 
of the kingdom," and they *^ shall shine forth as the 
sun in the kingdom of their Father," Why may not 
the angel who cries with a loud voice to him who sits 
on the cloud, directing him to reap because the time 
is come, be the shout and voice of the archangel 
Gabriel, or Michael? At that moment one shall be 
taken and another left— in the field, in the mill, and 
in the bed, day and night. 

The Vintage gathered, 

Vei^ses 17-20. ^' And another angel came out of the 
temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp 
sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, 
which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry 
to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy 
sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the 
earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel 
thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the 



220 THE APOCALYPSE. 

vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press 
of the wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden 
without the city, and blood came out of the wine-press, 
even unto the horse-bridles, by the space of a thou- 
sand and six hundred furlongs. '^ 

Another angel, different from the one who directed 
the reaper on the white cloud, although, like him, he 
came from the temple in heaven. This time it is not 
the Son of Man who holds the sickle, and is to reap ; 
but the angel himself, and he is ready for his work. 
The reaper-angel, having thus appeared and made 
himself ready, another angel still appears, coraing 
from the altar, '' who had power over fire.'' His in- 
structions were addressed to the angel-reaper, direct- 
ing him to '^ gather the clusters of the vine of the 
earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.'' 

This figure of a vintage and treading of the wine- 
press is introduced in the sixty-third chapter of Isaiah, 
where Christ is described as treading the wine-press 
alone, until his raiment was stained with blood. This 
angel, obedient to his instructions, put in his sickle 
and reaped the clusters, and cast them into the great 
wine-press of the wrath of God. The wine-press is 
the place where the wicked are to be slaughtered in 
the great battle. In Joel, the place is called ^' the 
Valley of Jehoshaphat," or Valley of Judgment. That 
valley is the valley of the Kedron, between Jerusalem 
and the Mount of Olives. " Multitudes, multitudes " 



CHAPTER xiy. 221 

are to be gathered ^^ in the valley of decision.'^ The 
decision of the right of dominion is to be determined 
there between Christ and Satan. The heathen are 
all to be awakened, and come up to the fray. 

But in Isaiah, chapter sixty-three, Christ is rep- 
resented as coming from Edom, and from Bozrali, the 
capital of Edom, with his dyed garments; because 
there he has trodden the wine-press, and stained his 
raiment with their blood. But here, in Revelation, 
the wine-press is said to be " trodden without the 
city,'' meaning Jerusalem. This would place us just 
where Joel did — in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. But 
the extent of the stream of blood would carry us into 
and beyond Edom ; for it flowed sixteen hundred fur- 
longs, two hundred miles, up to the horse bridles. 
Take into the account that " the kings of the earth, 
and of the whole world,'' are called there to that great 
battle, with all their cavalry, their flocks, and horses, 
for the commissary department ; and all these are 
given to the slaughter, and the flow of blood will 
scarcely be deemed incredible. The thirty-fourth 
chapter of Isaiah gives a more full account of the 
slaughter of animals as well as men, especially as it 
regards Idumea. ^^ The sword of the Lord is filled 
with blood ; it is made fat with fatness; " with lambs 
and goats, rams and unicorns, bullocks and bulls ; so 
that " their land shall be soaked with blood and made 
fat with fatness." 



222 THE APOCALYPSE. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Preparations for the Seven Last Plagues. 

Verses 1-4. ^^ And I saw another sign in heaven, 
great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven 
last plagues ; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire ; 
and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, 
and over his image, and over his mark, and over the 
number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having 
the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses, 
the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 
Great and marvelous are thy works. Lord God 
Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, thou King of 
saints. Who shall not fear thee, Lord, and glorify 
thy name ? for thou only art holy : for all nations shall 
come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are 
made manifest.'' 

Still another scene opens in this chapter. It is a 
new series of judgments, to be inflicted especially on 
the worshipers of the beast, &c. • Before they are 
poured out, a preparatory process is introduced, as 
there also was before the sounding of the seven 
trumpets. 

A sign in heaven. The vials, as delivered to the 
angels, were symbols; that is, they did not represent 
their own species. ^^ In them is filled up the wrath of 
God.'' What they represent, then, is the concentra- 
tion of the wrath of God, to be developed in seven 



CHAPTFE XT. - 223 

plagues on the wicked. They do not fall on the earth 
until the forty-two months of the beast's war on the 
saints is completed. Tor, before they fall, the victors 
over the beast and his image, mark, name, and num- 
ber, that is, those who resisted at the expense of life, 
were seen in triumph. For another sign, or symbol, 
was shown, " as it were a sea of glass mingled with 
fire.'' It appeared like a clear, crystalline sea, reflect- 
ing a blaze of fire ; and on it stood in triumph those 
who overcame Satan and his associates, the beast and 
his image, by loving not their lives unto the death: 
they stood on the transparent sea, having the harps 
of God. They were like Israel on the shores of the 
Red Sea, when they ^^ sung the song of Moses," after 
their deliverance from the Egyptians. These cele- 
brated the two deliverances, for they sing •* the song 
of Moses " (see Ex. xv.), and also '^ the song of the 
Lamb." 

That we have not in this line reached the resurrec- 
tion and rapture of the church, we learn in the inter- 
lude between the sixth and seventh plagues, where 
Christ admonishes his people to be on the watch, for 
he will come as a thief. But the scene before us is 
before either plague comes ; and hence the victors 
are in spirit the same as the palm-bearers of chap- 
*ter seven. And this same company are once more 
presented, in chapter twenty, as the souls of them that 
were beheaded. 



224 THE APOCALYPSE. 

Verses 5-8. " And after that I looked, and, behold, 
the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heav- 
en was opened ; and the seven angels came out of 
the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure 
and white linen, and having their breasts girded with 
golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto 
the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the wrath 
of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple 
was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from 
his power; and no man v/as able to enter into the 
temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were 
fulhlled.^^ 

*^ The temple of the tabernacle of testimony in 
heaven was opened.^' This temple is so frequently 
brought to view that we can not doubt the reality of 
its existence. Moses had a view of it with its taber- 
nacle of testimony, tlie most holy place, where the ark 
of the testament was deposited ; and he was directed 
to make his tabernacle, in all things, like the pattern. 
This in heaven is ^^ the true tabernacle, wdiich the 
Lord pitched, and not man.'^ But before the plagues 
were poured out it was opened ; but no man could 
enter it until the seven plagues should be fulfilled. 

These seven angels were invested with seven 
golden vials full of the wrath of God, w^ho liveth for 
ever and ever. These complete the series of plagues, 
or judgments, which precede the great battle in the 
Valley of Jehoshaphat. 



CHAPTER XVI. 225 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Seven Last Plagues inflicted. 

Verses 1, 2. ^^ And I heard a great voice out of the 
temple, saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and 
pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. 
And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the 
earth ; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon 
the men which had the mark of the beast, and u^on 
them which worshiped his image.'' 

When the plagues were inflicted on Egypt, Moses 
and Aaron were the agents by whom they were 
introduced. The rod was the selected instrument by 
which they were wrought. Each plague was then 
wrought by command of God to Moses and Aaron. 

Tbe seven last plagues are inflicted by seven 
angels. The command to inflict them still comes 
from God's holy temple ; the vials are the selected 
instruments. ^' Go your ways," said the voice from 
the temple, ^^ and do the Avork for which you are 
commissioned." 

The first loent and poured out Ms vial on the earth. 
This was the signal for the infliction of sore plagues ; 
and accordingly they came — ^^ a noisome and grievous 
sore." Just as w^hen Moses, at the command of God, 
scattered ashes of the furnace towards heaven, and it 
broke out in boils and blains on man and beast 
15 



226 THE APOCALYPSE. 

throughout Egypt, so here. The sore broke out 
on the men who had worshiped the beast and his 
image, and received his mark. They had enjoyed 
their time of triumph over the saints ; and now their 
day is come to drink the cup of wrath. (See Ex. 
ix. 8-11.) 

Verse 3. ^* And the second angel poured out his 
vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a 
dead 7nan : and every living soul died in the sea.^' 

The second plague followed, pouring forth the 
symbolic vial on the sea. The effect on the sea was, 
that it became clotted blood, as the blood of a dead 
man. No living thing in the sea could survive it, and 
accordingly they died. Such was the plague on 
Egypt, when Moses and Aaron stretched forth the 
rod at God's command over the river, and its waters 
became blood, and its fish died. (Ex. vii. 17-25.) 

Verses 4-7. " And the third angel poured out his 
vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters: and they 
became blood. And I heard the angel of the w^aters 
say, Thou art righteous, Lord, which art, and wast, 
and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For 
they have shed the blood of saints and propliets, and 
thou hast given them blood to drink ; for they are 
worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say. 
Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are 
thy judgments.'^ 

All the waters of fountains and rivers, as in Egypt, 



CHAPTER XVI. 227 

SO here, " became blood/' and they had only blood to 
drink. The attending angels who gaze on the 
progress of the plagues proclaim the justice of God^ 
and his righteousness, in such inflictions. ^^ They 
have shed the blood of saints and prophets ; '^ and 
thou hast recompensed them by giving ^^ them blood 
to drink ; for tliey are worthy '' of it, or deserve it. 
It will be a day of terrible visitation on the per- 
secutors of God's saints. It is manifest, as each of 
these plagues come, that they do not affect God's peo- 
ple any more than the plagues of Egypt aflected 
Israel. The people of God were then safe, whatever 
came ; for they were under divine protection. And 
so now, he will give his angels charge over them, that 
DO evil will befall them, nor any plague come nigh 
their dwelling. 

" The angel of the waters,^^ It would seem from this 
phrase, that the world, during, the progress of these 
events, is under the charge of angels in its different 
departments, and that one has charge of the waters, 
and another power over fire, &c. 

Verses 8, 9. " And the fourth angel poured out his 
vial upon the sun ; and power was given unto him to 
scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with 
great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which 
hath power over these plagues : and they repented not 
to give him glory." 

The plague affecting the sun will give it an inten- 



228 THE APOCALYPSE. 

sity of heat which will " scorch men as with fire ; " 
but it produces no repentance, only rage and blas- 
pheray against the God who has power over these 
plagues, and inflicts them. It is the spirit of rebellion 
excited to its highest pitch ; like Pharaoh, in Egypt, 
they will writhe under the infliction, but repent not 
of their deeds. 

Verses 10, 11. "And the fifth angel poured out his 
vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was 
full of darkness ; and they gnawed their tongues for 
pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven, because of 
their pains and their sores, and repented not of their 
deeds.^' 

This plague, like the darkness which came on 
Egypt, will aff'ect . the kingdom of the beast, and 
stretch from the Euphrates to the Atlantic, but be 
especially felt at his capital, his seat, or throne. It 
will, like Egypt, be full of darkness which may be 
felt ; so that none can discern his fellow. Then, it 
prevailed for three days and three nights ; but how 
long in this plague, we have no knowledge given us. 
In the midst of the surrounding darkness, the pain of 
their sores, with no sights to divert their attention, 
will be intense. And, thus exasperated, they will still 
further give vent to their wickedness in blaspheming 
God because of their pains and sores, but not be 
moved to repent of their evil deeds. 



CHAPTER XYI. 229 

Verses 12-14. ^^ And the sixth angel ponrecl out his 
vial upon the great river Euphrates : and the water 
thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the 
east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean 
spirits like frogs coine out of the mouth of the dragon, 
and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth 
of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, 
working miracles, t(;7^ic^ go forth unto the kings of the 
earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the 
battle of that great day of God Almighty.'^ 

" The great river Euphrates '^ is a literal river of 
that name, uniting with the Tigris, and discharging 
its waters into the Persian Gulf. It passes through 
the midst of Old Babylon, dividing the site of that city 
into two parts. When Cyrus, a Persian prince, com- 
manding the armies of his uncle, Darius, king of 
Media, was besieging Babylon, finding himself un- 
able to take it by assault, or reduce it by famine, 
he adopted the stratagem of diverting or drawing 
off the waters of the river, and, thus drying it up 
made a highway in its bed for his army to enter the 
city under its walls and take it, while the king was 
engaged in his drunken feast. This vial is to fall on 
that same river, and dry up its waters, and make a 
highway through its bed for ^^ the kings of the east" 
to come from their several countries with their armies, 
to be present at the battle of that great day of God 
Almighty. This may be done by fissures in the earth 
under its bed, which will swallow up its upper waters 
and leave its bed drv. 



230 THE APOCALYPSE. 

That ^^ the great river Eiqohrates ^' means the Ottoman 
empire, is a fancy of men, with no possible proof. It 
is an assumption which can not be substantiated. Some 
expositor at first devised the theory, and others have 
continued to repeat it. Had any one of them, from 
first to last, been put upon the proof that such was its 
meaning, the theory would have vanished as a shadow. 
There is a great river Euphrates, and it lies between 
the place of "the battle of that great day of God 
Almighty " and the eastern portions of Asia. Its dry- 
ing up w^ill facilitate the march of the vast armies 
from the snnrising, who are to be called to that great 
battle. Why call it, then, by any other than its true 
name? 

Spirits like frogs. The devil, beast, and false proph- 
et, or two-horned beast, are a trinity of evil, as Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost are of good — " the mystery 
of godliness '' and " the mystery of iniquity." Each 
of these persons sends out an unclean spirit — a 
demon — to go forth with power to work signs ; to go 
to the kings of the whole world, " to gather them to 
the battle of that great day of God Almighty.'* The 
signs they will show will be of such character as to 
persuade the monarchs of a supernatural power on 
the part of the beast and his legions, sufficient to cope 
with the greatest odds, and to overcome. 

The same class of spirits existed in the time of 
Christ, and are in the Gospels variously called, demons 



CHAPTER XYI. . 231 

and unclean spirits. They then possessed men, and 
exerted in and through them such power as to break 
the strongest chains, so that those whom they pos- 
sessed could not be bound. The spirits who possess 
mediums and perform various operations in our day 
confess themselves to be of the same class as those 
called demons in the days of Christ. But these who 
go forth on this mission appear to be possessed of 
extraordinary power, and to be commissioned by the 
chiefs of the conspiracy, and go forth at a particular 
time, that is, under the action of the sixth plague. 

'^ The battle of that great day of God Almighty '' is 
the same as the treading of the wine-press, and is 
usually called by expositors of prophecy '^ the battle 
of ArmageddonJ^ But this is a misapprehension. 
The Bible teaches no such thing as "the battle of 
Armageddon ; ^^ the name given in verse fourteen is 
its only name. 

Verses 15, 16. " Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed 
is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he 
walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gath- 
ered them together into a place called in the Hebrew 
tongue Armageddon.'^ 

The speaker in verse fifteen is Christ, warning his 
people of his sudden coming to gather his elect. Just 
as God warned the Israelites of their sudden depart- 
ure from Egypt on the night when the first born.were 
slain, under the last plague on Egypt, and charged 



232 , THE APOCALYPSE. 

them not to sit or He down, to keep on their coats, 
shoes, hats, and have their loins girded for instant 
departure, just so, while the seventh and last plague 
is pending, lie calls his people to be constantly ready 
to meet him in the air. 

And those who heed his note of warning are 
blest, and will be gathered by the Saviour *^into a 
place called in the Hebrew tongue.^ Armageddon.^' It 
will be seen, then, that it is not the unclean spirits 
gathering the kings of the earth into Armageddon for 
battle, but Christ gathering those who watch and 
keep their garments, into Armageddon, for safety, 
rest, and deliverance. 

The usual interpretation of the word is, "the Moun- 
.tain of Megiddo,'' near the city of Megiddo. But no 
such mountain exists there. Nor does the etymology 
of the word admit of that construction. The Hebrew 
Har signifies mount; the YiohrQw Megid signifies de- 
struction — " Mount of Destruction.'^ But this word is 
not Har, — mount, but Ar, — city. It is not Megid, — 
destruction, but Magidy — illustrious, august, noble. 
Hence it is not mount of destruction, but the illustrious, 
or august city ; the City of the Living God, the Heav- 
enly Jerusalem, to which Christ will take his people 
to celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb. (See 
Eev. Joseph Berg, D. D., on Armageddon,) 

Verses 17-21. ^^ And the seventh angel poured out 



CHAPTER XVI. 233 

his vial into the air ; and there came a great voice out 
of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is 
done. And there were voices, and thunders, and 
lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as 
was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an 
earthquake, and so great. And the great city was 
divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations 
fell : and great Babylon came in remembrance before 
God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierce- 
ness of his wrath. And every island fied away, and 
the mountains were not found. And there fell upon 
men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about 
the weight of a talent : and men blasphemed God 
because of the plague of the hail ; for the plague 
thereof was exceeding great.'^ 

Simultaneously with the rapture of the saints at 
the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven will 
come the last plague, and nature will be convulsed. 
The plague will be universal, being poured into the 
air, diffusing itself over the globe, while a voice from 
the throne proclaims, It is done! Instantly, voices, 
thunders, lightnings, earthquake, and hail, commingle 
throughout earth and air — an earthquake more terri- 
ble than ever before transpired. The great city is 
that of which a tenth part fell on the ascension of the 
two witnesses into heaven; now it is divided into 
three parts ; '' the cities of the nations fell ; '^ all cities 
must by so terrible an earthquake be shaken down. 
And at this moment, also, '^ great Babylon,'' which 
will already have been sacked hy the wild heast and 



234 THE APOCALYPSE. 

ten kings, will receive her final infliction, by sinking 
in the deep like a millstone cast into the sea. The 
islands and mountains are removed or disappear ; hail 
falls, every stojie of which is about a hundred and 
twenty-five pounds, troy weight. This is the hail of 
which the Almighty questioned Job. *^ Hast thou 
seen the treasures of hail which I have reserved 
against the time of trouble ? '^ (Job xxxviii. 22.) 
Thus will the poor sinner be exposed to that merciless 
storm when once the saints who are now '^ the salt of 
the earth '^ shall have left. In the days of Noah the 
w^orld " knew not until the flood came and took them 
all away. So shall it be in the day when the Son of 
Man shall be revealed.'^ Eeader, have you secured 
a shelter in Christ against that day? If not, do it 
at once, for his arms stand open wide to receive 
and welcome you. It was too late for the ante- 
diluvians when once the flood began to fall, and God 
had shut Noah in the ark. So also in that day it will 
be said, " He that is righteous, let him be righteous 
stilV^ '' and he that is filthy be filthy still.^' 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Great Babylon and her Judgment. 

Verses 1-5. ^* And there came one of the seven 
angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, 
saying unto me, Come hither ; I will show unto thee 



CHAPTER XVII. 235 

the judgment of the great whore that sitteth npon 
many waters ; with whom the kings of the earth have 
committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth 
have been made drunk with the wine of her fornica- 
tion. So he carried me away in the -spirit into the 
wilderness : and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet- 
colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having 
seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was 
arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with 
gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden 
cup in her hand full of abominations and hlthiness of 
her fornication : and upon her forehead was a name 
written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GEEAT, THE 
MOTHER OP HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS 
OP THE EARTH.'^ 

The angels charged with the infliction of the seven 
last plagues have another mission to perform besides 
that work of wrath. One of the seven is sent to give 
to John a view of Babylon's judgment already an- 
nounced. (Chap. xiv. 8.) In doing so he first exhibits 
her as a great harlot being carried to her judgment on 
a beast on which she is seated, and shows her doom 
by the ten kings. Then he is shown how God will 
deal with her by casting her down into the deep in a 
moment, to be seen no more at all. The angel said, 
^^ Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of 
the great whore that sitteth on many waters.'^ 

He, as when called up to heaven, was '' carried 
away in spirit into the loildernessy In that position 
he was shown a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored 
beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads 



236 THE APOCALYPSE. 

and ten horns. This beast is, in some respects, like 
the leopard beast in chapter thirteen. This, instead 
of being covered with the leopard^s spots, is scarlet- 
colored ; instead of having ten crowns on his horns, is 
crowhless. That is said to have come from the sea ; 
this from the bottomless pit. And yet there is so near 
a resemblance that we are compelled to regard them 
as one, only as exhibited at different periods of their 
history. In the thirteenth chapter he is exhibited in 
the freshness and beauty of his youth ; in the seven- 
teenth chapter, after his wars, stained with the blood 
of his victims. This rising then from the sea, and 
now from the abyss, may be understood as his coming 
up from the abyss through the sea ; for he was a dead 
beast restored to life, and therefore appropriately de- 
scribed as coming from the bottomless pit, the region 
of the dead. It was not needful that the crowns on 
his horns should be again noticed, as they had once 
been mentioned. His names of blasphemy were then 
on his heads ; but now they cover him. 

The prevailing thought among students of prophecy 
is, that the woman rides the beast as his guide, or 
driver ; but the idea of the text is, that he is bearing 
her to execution, or judgment. Her person is en- 
chanting ; being gaudily dressed, and decked with 
gold, pearls, and rarest jewels ; bearing in her hand a 
golden cup filled with an intoxicating and bewitching 
draught, by which to beguile her paramours. But her 



CHAPTER XVII. 237 

name is inscribed on her forehead, in legible lines, 
" Babylon the great, the moilier of harlots and ahomina' 
tions of the earthy Who can she be ? Is she Baby- 
lon of old ? "I wondered with great admiration/' 
She was intoxicated herself, with the blood of the 
saints ; and for herself she was prepared to intoxicate 
the world with the filthiness of her fornication. But 
it was the mission of the angel to explain. So he 
said, ^' I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and 
of the beast which carrieth her.'' 

Verses 6-11. ''And I saw the woman drunken with 
the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the 
martyrs of Jesus : and when I saw her, I wondered 
with great admiration. And the angel said unto me. 
Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the 
mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth 
her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The 
beast that thou sawest was, and is not, and shall ascend 
out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition : and 
they that dwell on the earth shall wonder (whose names 
were not written in the book of life from the founda- 
tion of the world), when they behold the beast that 
was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind 
which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven moun- 
tains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are 
seven kings: live are fallen, and one is, arid the other 
is not yet come ; and when he cometh, he must con- 
tinue a short space. And the beast that was, and is 
not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and 
goeth into perdition." 

The woman was drunken with the blood of saints. 



238 THE APOCALYPSE. 

She, then, has been a persecutor. In chapter eighteen, 
the holy apostles and prophets are called on to rejoice 
over her, because God had avenged them on her. 
That old Babylon was a persecutor of saints and 
prophets, is true ; that Peter, one of the holy apostles, 
was there, and wrote one of his letters from it, sending 
the salutation of the saints of Babylon, as Paul did 
those of Rome, is also true. May she not be Babylon 
of old, restored to glory and power ? 

The beast carrying the woman is one which once 
was, but at John's writing was not ; but at a time then 
future should come from the bottomless pit and go 
into perdition, the lake of fire — to be eternally tor- 
mented. We have seen, in chapter thirteen, that this 
was the Grecian power restored. 

^^ The seven heads are seven mountains, on which 
the woman sitteth.'^ It is this feature which has led 
so many to regard Rome as the apocalyptic Babylon, 
because she is built on seven hills. This seems 
natural and plausible. But other things must cor- 
respond as well as her mountains, before we come to 
a definite conclusion. There is another interpretation, 
and that is, ^' There are seven kings. '^ These are also 
represented by the seven heads, and will be found in 
the history of the beast when he comes. He being 
future, we cannot yet identify these kings, for as 
Solomon says, ^' What is wanting cannot be numbered." 
We take the interpretation both as to the mountains 



CHAPTER XVII. 239 

and kings on trust, and wait for the fulfillment in due 
time. At the time this scene is introduced, five of the 
seven kings were fallen, one existed, and the other 
was yet to come. But the beast himself is the eighth 
king in the series, and is of the seven, and goeth into 
perdition, as he is the last of the whole series. He 
reaches his perdition when Christ, the King of kings, 
takes both him and liis prophet alive, and casts them 
into the lake of fire. 

Verses 12--17. '^ And the ten horns which thou saw- 
est are ten kings, which have received no kingdom 
as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with 
the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their 
power and strength unto the beast. These shall make 
war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcom.o 
them : for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings ; and 
they that are with him are called, and chosen, and 
faithful. And he saith unto me. The waters which 
thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and 
multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten 
horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall 
hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and 
naked, and shall eat .her flesh, and burn her with fire. 
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and 
to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until 
the words of God shall be fulfilled.*^ 

^^ The ten horns are ten kings ; '' they are identical 
with the horns of Daniel's fourth beast, and will 
have divided the entire Roman empire between 
them, from the Euphrates to the Atlantic. They are 



240 THE APOCALYPSE. 

not a part of tlie beast originally; but they form an 
alliance among themselves, and agree to give their 
power, and strength, and kingdom to the beast, 
making him the ruler of the whole dominion east and 
west ; and thus they constitute his horns. 

'^ These " — the ten kings and wild bea^ — ^^ shall 
make war with the Lamb," at his coming, and in the 
great battle ; ^' and the Lamb shall overcome them ; 
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings." 

^^ The waters where the whore sat are peoples, and 
multitudes, and nations, and tongues ; " all of whom 
have been taken in her toils and pay her tribute. 
'^ These ten horns, with the beast, shall hate the harlot." 
She will stand in their way and excite their hatred, 
and they will sack the city, and break her power. 

The reason why the ten kings give their power to 
the beast and do this work is, that '^ God hath put it 
into their hearts to fulfill his Avill and to agree " to 
this alliance until his word " shall be fulfilled." 

Ferse 18. ^^ And the woman which thou sawest is 
that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the 
earth." 

The woman. She is " that great city which reign- 
eth over the kings of the earth ; " a city governing 
kings, instead of kings governing the city. She is 
^^ Babylon the great." That she is not Rome is evident, 
for she governs no kings, but is reduced to a provincial 



CHAPTEPw XVIL 241 

city, or at most the capital of one of the ten kings. 
Babylon is to be a commercial city, so great that her 
fall will convulse all the commerce and manufactures 
of the world, and fill it with consternation. The sink- 
ing of Rome could not do this. Nor is there any other 
city in existence of so much importance as to produce 
such results by its fall. As the beast is future, why 
may not the city be the same ? 

The Ruling Power of Earth, 

What is the ruling power of the world ? Rome is not. 
The church of Rome is not. France is not. There is 
no nation who occupies that pre-eminence. But com- 
'merce does do it. She, as a power, monopolizes legis- 
lation ; she leads to the formation of international trea- 
ties ; she builds railroads through trackless deserts, and 
under and over mountains ; she cuts canals ; she builds 
and runs lines of steamers and sailing craft ; she pro- 
jects, erects, and lays telegraph lines around the 
world, over mountains, under seas and oceans, along 
dangerous coasts ; she builds lighthouses, plants buoys; 
establishes observatories ; transmits, the world over, 
reliable information of yesterday, and prognosticates 
the storms and winds of to-morrow ; she monopolizes 
the press, holding it to her service ; she tells us at the 
breakfast-table the state of the markets of the world 
yesterday, and how to do business to-day. She has 
her centers in every land, from which her mandates 
16 



242 THE APOCALYPSE. 

go forth. No power in the world; no state, nation, or 
kingdom, is sufficiently strong to defy her demands 
with impunity. She needs, and she will have, a com- 
mon center, a common currency, common weights 
and common measures. This last is the problem the 
nations are endeavoring to solve. Has not divine 
wisdom foreseen and foretold this result, and where 
that center shall be located? 

The Ephah and Talent of Lead. 

Zee. V. verses 5-11. '^Then the angel that talked 
with me went forth, and said unto me. Lift up now 
thine eyes, aiid see what is this that goeth forth. 
And I said. What is it ? And he said, This is an ephah • 
that goeth forth. He said moreover. This is their re- 
semblance through all the earth. And, behold, there 
was lifted up a talent of lead : and this is a woman that 
sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said. This 
is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the 
ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth 
thereof. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, 
behold, there came out two women, and the wind was 
in their wings (for they had wings like the wings of a 
stork) ; and they lifted up the ephah between the earth 
and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked 
with me, Whither do these bear the ehpah? And he said 
unto me, To build it a house in the land of Shinar : and it 
shall be established, and set there upon her own base.'' 

This ephah is a measure ; and this is, said the angel, 
to be a common measure. ^' Moreover this is their re- 
semblance throughout the earth.'' The whole world 



CHAPTER XYII. 243 

will adopt it. The measure is also a symbol of com- 
merce. The prophet looked again, and he said, " I 
see a talent of lead." This, said the angel, ^^ is a wo- 
man that sitteth in the midst of the ephah." ^^ This is 
wickedness; and he cast it into the midst of the 
ephah ; and he cast the weight of lead on the top of 
it ; " he shut up the woman with weight and measure, 
the two symbols of commerce, and symbol of a city. 
For a woman is the symbol of a city. 

Next came two women with wings like a stork ; and 
the wind was in their wings. Seeing them take the 
ephah and lift it up, the prophet asked, " Whither do 
these bear the ephah ? " The angel replied, " To build 
it a house in the land of Shinar. And it shall be 
established there upon her own base.'' Does this 
signify that a commerce, universal, is to be established 
in the land of Shinar, the region of Babylon, on the 
banks of Euphrates? What else can be made of it? 
Are not the most gigantic efibrts of commerce directed 
to reach the east in both directions, east and west, 
with the greatest possible facility? To this end 
Pacific Railroads are built, Darien Canal projected, 
Mont Cenis tunnel excavated, Suez Canal cut, lines 
of steamers established for both the Atlantic and 
Pacific. To facilitate commerce, India and China are 
being intersected with railroad lines. And already 
the project is in progress for a line of railroads from 
London by way of Calais to Brussels, passing north 



244 THE APOCALYPSE. 

of the Alps to the Bosphorus, through Asia MinoiV 
north of Lebanon, to the Euphrates, and from thence to 
the East Indies ; London and Constantinople are prin- 
cipally interested. This will make Sliinar, or- Baby- 
lon, a great commercial center, and probably restore 
that ancient city to her former glory. The land of 
Shinar is one of the most fertile regions in the world. 
But an objection is raised against the idea of Baby- 
lon's being rebuilt, founded on the prediction of her 
everlasting desolation. (Isa. xiii. 19-22.) 

This is certainly a very strong prediction, and if it 
relates to the past she can not be . restored. But 
has such a desolation ever come on her? Is Baby- 
lon like ^' Sodom and Gomorrah '^? She did not share 
their fate when the Medes and Persians overthrew 
Belshazzar. The city, it is true, was taken, and the 
king was slain. But that any considerable slaughter 
of its inhabitants took place no history records. On 
the contrary, the Medes and Persians seem to have 
made it one of their royal cities, so that Cyrus, in the 
first year of his reign, was called king of Babylon, and 
commanded the vessels of the house of God to be 
taken from the temple of Babylon and returned to 
Jerusalem. (Ez. v. 13, 14.) Also in the seventh year 
of Artaxerxes Longimanus, he dwelt at Babylon, and 
from thence Ezra started for Judea. (Ez. vii. 6-9.) 

At the time of the death of Alexander, it was the 
capital of the Grecian empire, and there the great 



CHAPTER XVIII. 245 

conqueror died. St. Peter wrote his First Epistle from 
the place, and the saints of Babylon saluted those to 
whom he wrote. 

And to this day there is in the very midst of the 
site of old Babylon a city (Hillah) of ten thousand 
inhabitants. So, also, do shepherds now make their 
folds there, and the Arabians do pitch their tents 
-there. If the prediction has not yet been fulfilled, 
— and it has not, — then it will be in the future. 
Whoever will read Isaiah, chapter thirteen, with care, 
will see that it will be in ^^ the day of the Lord ^' that 
the destruction will come upon her. 

We are in A. D. 1872, and it is not done ; so that, 
if ever done, it must be in " the day of the Lord J'' It 
is not, however, that she is simply a seat of royalty, 
that she receives power to reign over the kings of 
the earth, as did Nebuchadnezzar ; but it arises from 
lier commercial greatness, which controls the world. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Final Sinking of Babylon. 

Verses 1-3. '^ And after these things I saw another 
angel come down from heaven, having great power ; 
and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he 
cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon 
the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habita- 
tion of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a 
cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all na- 



246 THE APOCALYPSE. 

tions have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her forni- 
cation, and the kings of the earth have committed 
fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are 
waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.'^ 

After the sacking of Babylon by the kings, an angel 
comes from heaven, probably the same as described 
xiv. 8, proclaiming with a loud voice, the fall of 
Babylon, and that she is in the condition described 
Isa. xiii., " a hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of 
everj^ unclean and hateful bird." There must be a 
destruction that is partial, first, that will render it still 
habitable, but yet greatly impair its beauty and afiect 
its importance ; and another destruction that will 
make it like Sodom and Gomorrah, entirely uninhabit- 
able by any creatures, as the prophet describes it. 
(Isa. xiii.) 

Verses 4-8. " And I heard another voice from heav- 
en, saying. Come out of her, my people, that ye be not 
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of 
her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, 
and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward 
her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her 
double according to her works : in the cup which she 
hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath 
glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much tor- 
ment and sorrow give her : for she saith in her heart, 
I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sor- 
row. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, 
death, and mourning, and famine ; and she shall be 
utterly burned with fire : for strong is the Lord God 
who judgeth her." 



CHAPTER XYIII. 247 

In this paragraph we have still further evidence 
that her first fall leaves the city as a sacked place^but 
still inhabited in parts. For there will be there some 
of God's people to whom the heavenly voice will call 
to leave her, as Lot was called to leave Sodom before 
the storm of fire and brimstone fell on her ; so that 
they shall not be partakers of her plagues. She is to 
be rewarded double for all the evil she has inflicted on 
the people of God. Her sins will have reached to 
heaven, and God will have remembered her iniquities. 
Her proud boast of being a queen city, and reigning 
over the world, will be the signal for her overthrow 
and torment ; and that overthrow will be sudden and 
short; for in one hour she is made desolate. The 
result of the sacking will be death, mourning, and 
famine. And sinking in the fiery gulf will be her 
terrible end. 

Lament of the Kixgs. 

The kings of the earth who were her paramours are 
to bewail her burning, and be filled with fear of her 
torment, as we read in 

Verses 9, 10. " And the kings of the earth, who 
have committed fornication and lived deliciously with 
her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they 
shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off 
for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas ! that 
great city, Babylon that mighty city ! for in one hour 
is thy judgment come.'' 



248 THE APOCALYPSE. 



The Merchants' Lament. 

Babylon the great being the center of commerce 
for the world, her fall will derange all commercial 
interests, and those engaged in commerce will weep 
and mourn that no man buyeth their merchandise any 
more. The great variety of articles of traffic embrace 
all luxuries, with some necessaries of life, and are 
enumerated in 

Verses 11-16. "And the merchants of the earth 
shall weep and mourn over her ; for no man buyeth 
their merchandise any more. The merchandise of 
gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, 
and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and 
all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all 
manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, 
and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odors, and 
ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and 
fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and 
horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. 
And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed 
from thee, and all things which were dainty and good- 
ly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no 
more at all. The merchants of these things, which 
were made rich by her, shall stand afar off, for the fear 
of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, 
alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and 
purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious 
stones, and pearls ! '^ 



CHAPTER XVIII. 249 



Lament of Shipmasters and Sailors. 

Commercial agents, as well as merchants, will at 
once be displaced from lucrative pursuits by Baby- 
lon's fall. And their lament and its cause is re- 
ported in 

Verses 17-19. " For in one hour so great riches is 
come to naught. And every ship-master, and all the 
company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade 
by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the 
smoke of her burning, saying. What city is like unto 
this great city ! And they cast dust on their heads, 
and cried, Aveeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas ! 
that great city, wherein were made rich all that had 
ships in the sea by reason of her costliness ! for in 
one hour is she made desolate.'^ 

Next comes the call on those who have suffered from 
her persecutions, to rejoice over her fall. 

Ferse 20. ^' Rejoice over her, iJiou heaven, and ye 
holy apostles and prophets ; for God hath avenged you 
on her.'' 

Babylon's Final Fall. 

Her final fall is to be by the direct action of Al- 
mighty power, as under the seventh vial, when we 
are told that ^^ Great Babylon came in remembrance 
before God, to give unto her the fierceness of the wine 
of the wrath of Almighty God." 



250 THE APOCALYPSE. 

Verse 21. '^ And a mighty angel took up a stone 
like a great mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying, 
Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be 
thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.'' 

The symbol of her final overthrow is significant of 
her sinking into the fiery gulf beneath her. A mighty 
angel cast a stone like a great millstone into the deep, 
saying. Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon 
be cast dowUj and be found no more at all. Then will 
. it be literally true as stated in 

Verses 22, 23. " And the voice of harpers, and 
musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be 
heard no more at all in thee ; and no craftsman of what- 
soever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee ; 
and the sound of a mill-stone shall be heard no more at 
all in thee ; and the light of a candle shall shine no 
more at all in thee ; and the voice of the bridegroom 
and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee : 
for thy merchants were the great men of the earth ; 
for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." 

The closing verse of the chapter gives the reason 
why she thus perishes. 

Verse 24. '^ And in her was found the blood of 
prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain 
upon the earth.'' 

She, like Jerusalem, approving and practicing the 
deeds of their fathers, inherits their guilt, and receives 
their punishment. This city filling the cup, receives 
the most terrible of all the plagues. She sinks into 
the lake of fire I 



CHAPTER XIX. 251 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Rejoicings in Heayen oyer Babylon^s Fall. 

It is at the time of the pouring of the seventh vial 
into the air that Babylon sinks, and the saints rise to 
meet their Lord in the air, and are escorted to heaven 
to celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb in 
Armageddoiij the illustrious city. It is therefore no 
matter of wonder that all heaven's hosts should 
rejoice at her downfall. 1. Because they are thus 
avenged on her; and, 2. Because of their own glory, 
as will be seen in 

Verses 1-6. " And after these things I heard a great 
voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; 
Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the 
Lord our God : for true and righteous are his judg- 
ments ; for he hath judged the great whore, which did 
corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath 
avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And 
again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for 
ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and 
the four beasts fell down and worshiped God, that sat 
on the throne, saying. Amen ; Alleluia. And a voice 
came out of the throne, saying. Praise our God, all ye 
his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and 
great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great 
multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the 
voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the 
Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 



252 THE APOCALYPSE. 

The voice of much people in heaven refers to the 
saints of human kind. And as they rejoiced, " her 
smoke went up : '^ not for a short space, but ^^ for ever 
and ever.'^ The twenty-four elders and four living 
creatures also, the representatives of the saints before 
the throne, fall worshiping him who sits upon it. A 
voice proceeding from the throne also commands all 
God's servants, small and great, to join in his praise. 

In response to this direction from the throne of 
God, a universal burst of acclamation rings through 
all the heavenly arches, " as it were, a voice of a great 
multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the 
voice of mighty thunderings ; '' all the strongest and 
most significant comparisons which can be devised are 
selected to express the majesty of that response ; 
* '^ saying. Alleluia ; The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 
Let us rejoice and be glad, and give honor to him." 

The Marriage op the Lamb celebrated. 

The hosts of heaven are thus summoned to rejoice, 
not only to celebrate the Almighty's triumph over 
Babylon, but to encourage each other in rejoicing that 
the marriage of the Lamb is come, and that his wife 
(more properly, his betrothed) hath made herself 
ready for the nuptials. 

Verses 7-9. " Let us be glad and rejoice, and give 
honor to him : for the marriage of -the Lamb is come, 
and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her 



CHAPTER XIX. 253 

was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, 
clean and white : for the fine linen is the righteous- 
ness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed 
are they which are called unto the marriage supper of 
the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true 
sayings of God." 

The bride is usually understood to be the church. 
But there is an evident distinction here made between 
the bride and the guests. They who are called are 
guests, not the bride. When the angel promised to 
show John " the bride, the Lamb^s wife," he showed him 
^^ that great city, the New Jerusalem." The allegory 
of Paul makes the '^Jerusalem which is above, and is 
free," the mother of all the saints. Then the celebra- 
tion of the marriage of the Lamb is the eternal union 
of Christ with the holy city, and the investing of all 
her children with the rights and privileges of citizen- 
ship. That this scene is to be realized just as it is 
here described, we are assured in these words : 
"These are the true sayings of God." Why, then, 
should we doubt their literality. 

Worship rejected by the Angel. 

Verse 10. " And I fell at his feet to worship him. 
And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy 
fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testi- 
mony of Jesus : worship God : for the testimony of 
Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 

It would seem that this was a human angel, the 



254 THE APOCALYPSE. 

fellow-servant of *Iohn and his brethren, who also had 
the testimony of Jesus. That testimony is the spirit 
pervading all prophecy. It was the spirit of Christ 
which was in the old prophets and " testified before- 
hand the sufferings of Christ and the glory which 
should follow.'' (1 Pet. i. 11, 12.) 

God alone is the one to be worshiped. 

The Great Battle of God Almighty. 

Verges 11-16. "And I saw heaven opened, and 
behold, a white horse ; and he that sat upon him was 
called Faithful and True ; and in righteousness he 
doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame 
of fire, and on his head were many »crowns ; and he 
had a name written, that no man knew but he himself. 
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: 
and his name is called The Word of God. And the 
armies ichicli were in heaven followed him upon white 
horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And 
out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he 
should smite the nations : and he shall rule them with 
a rod of iron: and he treadeth the wine-press of. the 
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath 
On his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING 
OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS/^ 

The Lord, in the hundred and tenth Psalm, invites 
Jesus to occupy a seat at his right hand until he shall 
make his foes his footstool. Then he promises to send 
the rod of his strength out of Zion, and to give him 
authority to " rule in the midst of his enemies.'^ Then 



CHAPTER XIX. 255 

he will " wound the heads over many countries, and 
fill the places with the dead bodies.'' 

So, also, in second Psalm, he makes a similar prom- 
ise, saying, ^^ Thou art my Son ; this day have I be- 
gotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the 
heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts 
of the earth for thy possession. And thou shalt break 
them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a 
potter's vessel." The time has at length arrived, as 
seen by John, for his enemies to be made his footstool, 
and be dashed in pieces. Christ's coming in the 
clouds of heaven/br his saints to take them from earth 
to meet him in the air, and to celebrate the marriage 
supper in the New Jerusalem, is one thing; and his 
coming in warlike pomp and majesty with his saints, 
to conquer for them a kingdom under the whole 
heaven, is quite another event, and must follow, not 
precede, the other. 

The opening of heaven is the parting of the aerial 
firmament, as when Jesus came up straightway out of 
the baptismal water, and the heaven was opened unto 
him. So John, in vision, ''• saw heaven opened, and lo, 
a white horse " and his majestic rider appeared. This 
same symbol appeared in heaven on the opening of 
the first seal; only he had a single crown on his head, 
and a bow to commence his conquests. He was a 
pseudO' Christ, But now the true Christ comes as 
King of kings ; comes from heaven to earth decked 



256 THE APOCALYPSE. 

with many diadems, the symbols of universal dominion. 
The Stephanos crown, which was given the anti-Christ, 
was the symbol of kingly power. The ^^ many dia- 
demata,-^ the symbol of imperial power, rule over all 
kings and kingdoms. The vesture dipped in blood is 
the same as Isaiah saw, chapter sixty-three, v/hen the 
same personage appeared treading the wine-press of 
God's wrath. So the treading of the wine-press and 
this impending battle are identical. The name in- 
scribed on this mighty conqueror is, Tlie Word of 
God — the same name which is given him by John in 
the first chapter of his Gospel, and who, he there says, 
was made flesh, and dwelt among us. 

But he does not come alone : all the armies of heav- 
en follow him on white horses, to be the witnesses of 
his victories, and assent to the justice of his proceed- 
ings. In Isaiah, chapter sixty-three, he says, " I have 
trodden the wine-press alone.'' Here, also, it is said^ 
" The remnant were slain with the sword of him that 
sitteth on the horse.'V So that, although the heavenly 
armies come with Jesus, he needs not their help. 
Here, as in Isaiah, it is expressly said that he treadeth 
the wine-press of the wrath of God. Here, too, we 
have the declaration that it is he who breaks his foes 
with the iron rod, as he is promised in the second 
Psalm. Tlie Word of God is not the only name he 
bears on his vesture : the other is. King of kings, and 

LOKD OP LORDS. 



CHAPTER XIX. 257 



The Supper of God and his Guests. 

Verses 17, 18. " And I saw an angel standing in the 
sun ; and he cried with a loud voices saying to all the 
fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather 
yourselves together unto the supper of the great God ; 
that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of 
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of 
horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of 
all men^ both free and bond, both small and great.*' 

The marriage supper of the Lamb is the feast of 
fat things which the Lord promised to his people in 
the twenty-fifth chapter of Isaiah. But this is a sup- 
per of human and brute flesh, which birds of prey and 
ravenous beasts may eat, slaughtered by the sword of 
the Word of God, Noble and ignoble, monarch and 
subject, master and slave, small and great, alike shall 
be their feast. 

Verses 19-21. " And I saw the beast, and the kings 
of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to 
make war against him that sat on the horse, and 
against his army. And the beast was taken, and with 
him the false prophet that wrought miracles before 
him, with which he deceived them that had received 
the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his 
image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire 
burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain 
with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which 
sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls 
were filled with their flesh." 

17 



258 THE APOCALYPSE. 

We Lave seen that the heavenly forces consist of 
Jesus Christ, and the armies of heaven prepared for 
war, and that the beasts and fowls are summoned to 
devour the slain. So did David, the antitype of 
Christ, when he fought the battle of God, with the 
armies of Israel for witnesses, give his giant foe, and 
the armies of the Philistines, saying, " I will give the 
carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto 
the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the 
earth ; that all the earth may know that there is a 
God in Israel.'^ (1 Sam. xvii. 46.) 

The beast is the one who bears the woman to her 
judgment. It will be remembered that he has seven 
heads and ten horns. These ten horns are expressly 
declared to make war on the Lamb, and to be over- 
come by him in the battle that follows. We are also 
told that the dragon, beast, and false prophet, each, 
send forth a demon, to the kings of the earth and the 
wdiole world, to stir them up to battle. The result is 
here described : the beast, the kings of the earth, and 
their armies are all there; and Christ goes forth, 
David-like, while the armies of heaven gaze with 
breathless interest at the conflict which ensues. The 
beast, and false prophet, the beast's chief minister, are 
taken, and these both are cast alive into the lake of 
fire and brimstone. This lake " is the second death.'' 
It would seem to indicate that the men bearing the 
designation of beast and false prophet will, in more 



CHAPTER XIX. 259 

than a figurative sense, come from the bottomless pit, 
hades, the place of the dead ; so that having died once, 
and been in hades, and then resurrected, their doom 
now, is " the lake of fire, the second death.'^ 

The remnant, the kings and armies of earth, ^^ were 
slain by'' Christ; and the fowls devoured their flesh, 
and their spirits were shut up in the pit. The same 
scene is also described in the glowing words of the 
prophet Isaiah, chapter xxiv. 21, 22. " And it shall 
come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish 
the host of the high ones that are on high, and the 
kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be 
gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the 
pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many 
days shall they be visited.'' 

Those shut up in the pit are the kings of the earth 
and their armies, slain in the conflict of that great day 
of God Almighty ; and they are imprisoned for a thou- 
sand years ; and shall then be visited and live again, 
to receive their final doom, the lake of fire, into which 
the beast and false prophet have already been cast, 
and whose terrors they are experiencing, when this 
dread event is consummated. 



260 THE APOCALYPSE. 

CHAPTER XX. 

The Millennium. 

Verses 1-3. " And I saw an angel come down from 
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a 
great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the 
dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and 
Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him 
into tlie bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a 
seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no 
more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and 
after that he must be loosed a little season.^' 

The beast, false prophet, kings, and armies of the 
preceding chapter, who arrayed themselves against 
Christ and his army, having been disposed of, Satan, 
their leader, is to be also captured and confined. The 
Son of Man is the victor of chapter nineteen ; an 
angel, probably Michael, who drove Satan from 
heaven, seizes and binds him with such a chain as 
will bind a spiritual being, and confines him in the 
abyss for a thousand years ; at the close he will be 
loosed a little season. 

Verses 4-6. " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon 
them, and judgment was given unto them : and I saio 
the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness 
of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not 
worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had 
received his mark upon their lore heads, or in their 
hands ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thou- 



CHAPTER XX. 261 

sand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again 
until the thousand years were finished. This is the 
first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath 
part in the first resurrection : on such the second 
death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God 
and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand 
years." 

Thrones — they sat on them, Tliey : no antecedent 
for this word occurs except chapter xix. 14 : "• The 
armies which were in heaven.'^ They are glorified 
saints, who return fi^om heaven with their king to the 
great battle. Dan. vii. 22, it is said that at the com- 
ing of the Ancient of Days, ^^ judgment was given to 
the saints of the Most High, and the time came that 
the saints possessed the kingdom." The judgment 
was awarded when the Ancient of Days came (chapter 
vi.) ; but the saints are enthroned only when the 
usurper and his hosts are overthrown. This company 
embraces all the saints of all time. '^ I saw thrones, 
and they sat upon them," and the court awarded judg- 
ment'' in their favor, that they were the rightful heirs 
of "• the kingdom under the whole heaven." This is 
promised, to the saints of the Most High. (Dan. vii. 
27.) ^' The souls of them that were 'beheaded^'' &c. 
These are first presented in these visions under the 
fifth seal, chapter six. Then they were furnished with 
white stoleSj priestly garments, and were to rest a little 
season, waiting to be avenged. Now they appear 
among the enthroned saints ; for they are only a part 



263 THE APOCALYPSE. 

of that company ; and we are told that instead of re- 
maining disembodied souls of the beheaded, "they 
lived ; " that is, had been resurrected, having part 
with all other saints in "the first resurrection/' For 
all saints are to be raised at one time ; " Christ, the 
first fruits ; afterward they that are Christ^s at his 
coming/' "'We shall not all sleep, but all shall be 
changed ; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at 
the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the 
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be 
changed.'' This must embrace all saints who are 
dead and all who are living and are victors over the 
beast, &c. ; for they will be of the last generation, who 
shall be raised or changed. 

Why, then, it may be asked, are these presented as 
a separate company? It is because they will have 
been, subjected to peculiar sufferings under the 
" great tribulation, such as was not from the begin- 
ning of the world to that time," and are worthy of 
special mention as having oyercome so great trials of 
their faith and patience. In warfare, it is a universal 
practice to make particular mention of the specially 
brave, and to confer on them peculiar honor. 

'^ This is the first resurrection,^^ Will the first resur- 
rection be literal? It will. 1. It follows the sound- 
ing of the seventh trumpet, under which the dead are 
judged, and Christ receives the award of the eternal 
kingdom of this world ; and all Gad's servants are 



CHAPTER XX. 263 

rewarded J small and great. 2. It follows the marriage 
supper of the Lamb, when Christ receives all his peo- 
ple to himself.^ and celebrates the occasion in the New 
Jerusalem'. 3. It is the kingdom of God and Christ, 
in which all the enthroned reign ; but flesh and blood 
can not inherit the kingdomof God. Thej must there- 
fore have been immortalized by resurrection and 
change, to inherit the kingdom. 4. No state of uni- 
versal holiness can exist until the harvest, which is 
■the end of the world, when the wricked shall be 
gathered out of his kingdom, and the righteous shine 
like the sun in it. This will have been done when 
this scene occurs. Finally, if the principle maintained 
in this work, that the visions of the Apocalypse are 
an exhibition of the scenes of the day of judgment, is 
correct, then this question is forever settled. 

" The rest of the dead '^ implies that the enthroned 
ones had been dead, but were now alive, and that 
others were dead in the same sense in which these 
had been, and that these ^' rest''' wall not live again 
unt ilthe thousand years of Satan's imprisonment and 
the saints' reign are fulfilled. If these who live and 
reign were only spiritually dead, and their resurrec- 
tion simply means their conversion, then the rest of 
the dead are only spiritually dead, and their living 
again must mean their conversion at the end of a 
thousand years. If so, all these " rest " of the uncon- 
verted must remain sinners during a thousand years, 



264 THE APOCALYPSE. 

and not a soul be converted during all that period. 
The absurdity of the view is its refutation. But the 
connection in v/hich the passage stands, following the 
marriage supper of the Lamb, clearly proves the first 
resurrection to be a bodily resurrection of all the 
saints. That they have priority of resurrection over 
the wicked, and are a class by themselves, is proved by 
such passages as these : '' afterward they that are 
Christ^s at his coming ;^^ ''the resurrection of the 
just ; ^' '' I will raise him up at the last day,^' &c. The 
first resurrection, therefore, is that of the just. The 
only designation of the time to elapse between the 
two is in the passage now under consideration; and 
this is so distinct as to render it unmistakable. 

The Whitbyan theory of the resurrection of the 
martyr S]jirit has the same absurdity to contend with 
as the conversion theory — that after this wonderful 
development of the martyr spmt on the binding of 
Satan, and consequent establishment of universal 
peace, no more martyr spirits will arise for a thousand 
years. *' Its absurdity is its refutation.'' The theory 
is a novelty not known in the early church. Whitby 
acknowledged it to be " a new theory.'' 

The Thousand Years ended. 

Verses 7-10. '' And when the thousand years are 
expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and 
shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the 
four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather 



CHAPTER XX. 265 

them together to battle : the number of whom ^5 as the 
sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of 
the earthj and compassed the camp of the saints about, 
and the beloved city : and fire came down from God 
out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil 
that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and 
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet 
are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever 
and ever.'^ 

The paragraph from verses four to six covers a 
period nowhere else touched in the Apocalypse — the 
events of the millennium. The passage now before us 
is of the same character; it describes what no other 
passage of the Apocalypse speaks of — the events 
which follow the millennium. 

Those events are, 1. The loosing of Satan from his 
prison, the bottomless pit. 2. The finding, on the four 
quarters of the earth, an innumerable multitude of hu- 
man beings, like the sand of the sea for numbers. 
3. Satan going forth to deceive them, and gather them 
around the camp of the saints, and the beloved city — 
the New Jerusalem — under the pretense of a battle 
with Christ and his saints. 4. The overthrow of the 
whole host of the wicked by fire, which comes out of 
heaven and devours them. 5. The devil, their de- 
ceiver, is taken again and *^ cast into the lake of fire, 
where the beast and false prophet are.^^ 

The question now presents itself, who are these 
hosts whom Satan finds in the four quarters of the 



266 THE APOCALYPSE. 

earth ? The implication given by the fifth verse, that 
the rest of the dead will live again when the thousand 
years are finished, would furnish just such a multitude 
as is described — the resurrected wicked. 

But it is asked, How can Satan deceive them, after 
they all know God's power ? So it might be asked, 
How could Pharaoh have been so deceived, after all he 
had seen of God's power, as to follow Israel into the 
midst of the Red Sea, with his whole army? The 
answer is the same in both cases : they were aban- 
doned of God, and left to their own corrupt and 
perverse wills. 

The beloved city evidently means the New Jeru- 
salem. In and around it the saints will be encamped, 
awaiting the last desperate assault. For after the 
warning of this passage, it will not take them by sur- 
prise. Nor will they be filled with fear because of 
their ignorance of the deliverance awaiting them. 

" Fire came down from God out of heaven and 
DEVOURED them.'' The fire which came from God 
and devoured Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, when 
they offered strange fire before the Lord, simply killed 
them, without burning their clothes. (Lev. x. 1-5.) 
*^ And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured 
them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses 
said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, say- 
ing, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, 
and before all the people I will be glorified. And 



CHAPTER XX. 267 

Aaron held his peace. And Moses called Mishael and 
Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the uncle of Aaron, and 
said unto them, Come near, and carry your brethren 
from before the sanctuary out of the camp. So they 
went near, and carried them in their coats out of the 
camp, as Moses had said." So that being devoured 
by fire from God does not necessarily imply being 
burned up. The Greek verb here used, xaT£^c^;^co 
— JcatejjhagoOj is used in reference to Christ. (John 
ii. 17.) '^The' zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.'^ 
The idea is, that he was absorbed in zeal for the 
house of God. It signifies to swallow, as a bird does 
grain. ^' Some seed fell by the wayside, and the fowls 
of the air x^ame and devoured it.'' (Matt. xiii. 4.) This 
word in the passage before us seems to imply a fiery 
cyclone, which shall absorb them, and cast them into 
the lake of fire ; for that is the final doom of all who 
are not written in the book of life. 

TJie devil was cast into the lake of fire. The beast 
and false prophet met that fate at the beginning of 
the millennium ; they were cast there alive, and will 
have continued there alive and suffering a thousand 
years, during which time the devil will be in the bot- 
tomless pit. They will still be there when their old 
associate will be cast in with them. ^^ And tliey,^^ the 
devil, beast, and false prophet, ^^ shall be tormented 
day and night for ever and ever.'' There can be no 
stronger form of expression to indicate the eternity 



268 THE APOCALYPSE. 

of torment than is here used. 1. The beast and false 
prophet have endured it a thousand years. 2. The 
millennial period is ended, and the eternal ages are 
begun when the devil is cast there, and they, the 
trio, shall be tormented day and night for ever and 
ever. It must be eternal. The same everlasting fire 
prepared for the devil and his angels is that into 
which the wicked will be bid depart. (Matt. xxv. 41.) 
This seems a terrible doom ; and so it is. But the 
God who has never failed to fulfill his severest threats 
on the impenitent will not fail to fulfill his faithful 
w^ord even to this extent. Our unbelief will not make 
" the faith of God of none effect.'' Our rebellion 
against his authority may aff*ect us and our action, 
but it can never change his word, or plans, in any 
degree. For puny, short-sighted man to assume the 
judgment seat, and declare that it is unjust and cruel 
for God to inflict eternal suff'erings on any of his 
creatures, and then to declare, as many do, "I can 
neither love nor worship such a God,'' savors strongly 
of terrible rebellion. " While the earth continues, day 
and night shall not cease," is God's covenant. 

The General Judgment. 

Verses 11-15. " And I saw a great white throne, 
and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and 
the heaven fied away ; and there was found no place 
for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
before God : and the books were opened : and another 



CHAPTER XX. 269 

book was opened, which is the booh of life : and the 
dead were judged out of those things which were 
written in the books, according to their works. And 
the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and death 
and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: 
and they were judged every man according to their 
works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of 
fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was 
not found written in the book of life was cast into the 
lake of fire.'^ 



The general judgment, where the books were 
opened, is first, in the divine visions, presented to us 
in the seventh chapter of Daniel. There its session is 
introduced as taking place while the hor7i is speaking 
his great icords. That certainly precedes the millen- 
nium. So, also, when the seventh trumpet sounds, 
the four and twenty elders proclaim, ^^Thy wrath is 
come, and the time of the dead that they should be 
judged.''^ That also precedes Uie millennium. But 
the judgment now introduced is the judgment of the 
dead, and therefore must be the judgment under the 
seventh trumpet ; hence we must understand it, not 
as consecutive to the casting of Satan into the lake of 
fire, but as going back to a scene, under the seventh 
trumpet, then hinted atj but not fully presented to the 
vision of the prophet, but now brought forward as a 
distinct scene. 

As has been intimated before, there must be a 
general judgment before the coming of Christ, and 



270 THE APOCALYPSE. ^ 

the resurrection, and rapture of the saints, and an 
award be rendered to each one of the race of Adam. 
For the resurrection is an executive proceeding. " In 
the twinkling of an eye '' the saints will be glorified 
and immortalized, and caught up to meet the Lord. 
This must be in accordance with a preceding trial or 
adjudication. So, also, the Savior (Matt. xxv. 31-46) 
teaches that at his coming, and separation of the 
righteous and wicked, he will pronounce the final, ir- 
revocable doom on both parties, and assign the reason 
for the sentence pronounced on each — a sentence from 
which there will be no appeal, and no rehearing 
granted. 

The judicial proceeding is indicated by the stand- 
ing of the dead, small and great, before God, who sits 
on the judgment throne, where the hooks are opened. 
These are the books of records of each one's doings, 
sayings, and thoughts. But another book was opened ; 
it was the book of character, " the book of life.'' 
Every saint is written there, and the fact of being 
found written there attests his holy character. It 
needs no other evidence of his being in Christ. The 
fact of its being there, and being opened, is the proof 
that the subjects of this judgment are saints as well as 
sinners. The other books will attest wdiat men have 
done. And each one will be judged out of the hooks 
according to their works. 



CHAPTER XX. 271 



The Executive Judgment. 

As verses eleven and twelve exhibit the judicial 
proceeding on the dead, small and great, who stand 
before God in spirit as dead, to be judged according 
to the testimony of the hooks, so verses 13-15 give 
us the executive proceeding, without distinguishing, 
as before, between the two resurrections. That hav- 
ing been done already, it is now only needful to show 
that the dead will be raised in order to receive their 
award. In this executive work w'e are told that the 
sea gave up the dead which were in it. Death, here 
used as a substitution for the grave, gave up its dead. 
Hades gave up the dead it held ; that is, the souls of 
men. For it is the soul, not the Soc??/? l^ades retains in 
custody. It was not the body of the rich man which 
in hades lifted up his eyes, being in torment ; for it 
was buried. It was not the flesh of Christ, or David, 
which was not left in hades, but his soul, (Ps. xvi. ; 
Acts ii. 32.) Hades, or the under w^orld, will be 
dispossessed. And being thus dispossessed, by the 
resurrection, of its subjects, there will be no further 
use for it, and it shall be cast into the lake of fire. 
That is, the barriers now existing between it and the 
lake of fire in the subterranean ^vorld will be re- 
moved, and all merged in one. So, also, the angel of 
death, being of no further service, since the first 



272 THE APOCALYPSE. 

death has filled his mission, is also cast into the lake 
of fire. " This is the second death." Next, and 
finall}^, in this executive proceeding, comes the doom 
of the finally impenitent, who, not being found writ- 
ten in the book of life, are also ^* cast into the lake 
of fire.'^ 

If it is asked, How can the dead stand before God 
while dead ? the answer is given in the words of the 
apostle. (1 Pet. iv. 6.) ^' For this cause the gospel was 
preached " by Christ when he went and " preached to 
the spirits in prison," " to them that are dead, that 
they might be judged according to," or inthe same 
manner aSj *^ men in the flesh, but live according to," 
or in the same manner as, " God in spiritJ^ For the 
word v^axa^ I'lere used, can only mean likeness — like 
God. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

The New State. 

Verses 1-5. ^' And I saw a new heaven and a new 
earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were 
passed away, and there was no more sea. And I John 
saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from 
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her 
husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, 
saying. Behold, tke tabernacle of God is with men, 
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his 
people, and God himself shall be with them, and he 
their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from 



CHAPTER XXI. 273 

their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither 
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more 
pain : for the former things are passed away. And he 
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make ail 
things new. And he said unto me, Write ; for these 
words are true and faithful.'^ 

The last verses of chapter twenty, having disposed 
of those not found written in the book of life in the lake 
of fire, a home for the saints is now to be introduced. 
And it must be in accordance with God^s original plan 
and preparation when he laid the foundation of the 
xoauoc. For that, the Savior informs us, is " the 
kingdom prepared '^ for those on his right hand in the 
day of judgment, — the earth in its beauty, — as it was 
when " the morning stars sang together, and all the 
sons of God shouted for joy.'' 

So, to the raptured vision of John there appeared 
what God by the pen of Isaiah (Ixv. 17) had so long 
before foretold — ^^ a new heaven and a new earth.'' 
This, too, would answer to the faith of Abraham, who 
was promised an everlasting possession and inherit- 
ance for himself and seed in the land of Canaan, 
where he only sojourned in this life. Why ? Because, 
says Paul, ^^ he looked for a better country, that is, a 
heavenly." Nor was the heavenly country all for 
which he looked ; for, also, ^^ he looked for a city which 
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." 
And this is just the thing revealed to the gaze of the 
18 



274 THE APOCALYPSE. 

entranced seer of Patmos. For he not only saw a 
new heaven and a new earth, but he also " saw the 
Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God 
out of heaven.'' This is one of those many mansions 
of which the Savior spoke, as being in his Father's 
house, and which he was going to prepare for his 
disciples ; and then he would come again and receive 
them to himself. 

There was no more sea. The original earth had a 
sea ; but we should gather from the account of the 
deluge that it was as described in Job (xxxviii. 8) : — 

" Who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake 
forth as if it had issued out of the womb ? " 

This meets the description given in Genesis, when 
it is said, " The fountains of the great deep were 
broken up." It is not only possible, but probable, that .^ 
the sea may again be shut up with doors, and the dry 
land appear all over the globe. Josephus gives us, in 
his discourse on hades, the Hebrew idea, in language 
like this : " The sea shall not be without m.oisture ; 
but it shall not be impossible for men to walk on it." 
This would indicate a shutting up of the sea in its 
original storehouse, and the whole earth be given to 
the service of man. 

" Behold the tabernacle of God is with men." A 
tabernacle is a tent, or temporary dwelling. When 
God dwelt with Israel in the tabernacle, on the mercy 



CHAPTER XXI. • 275 

seat, it was not his permanent abode, but he taber- 
nacled with them. This holy city, too, is merely his 
tent, and he shall tabernacle with them ; not abandon 
the heaven of heavens, where his throne is, but 
he will often visit earth and make a temporary stay 
with his children here. 

This glorious result was promised in the closing 
verses of Ezek. xxxvii. : "My tabernacle also shall be 
with them ; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be 
my people/' So, also, God promised to Abraham and 
his seed the everlasting possession of the land ; and 
he added, " I will be their God." Thus, in that heav- 
enly country and city, will culminate all the promises 
made to Abraham and his seed, and to Christ and his 
saints, the members of his body, the church. 

But who can conceive the infinite sum of blessed- 
ness expressed in the words, " God shall wipe away 
all tears from their eyes '^ ? Then will be fulfilled the 
promise, " Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall 
be comforted.'^ Death no more, sorrow and crying no 
more, " neither shall there be any more pain.'' Well 
may the divine Spirit add, " For the former things are 
passed away." He who sits on the great white 
throne proclaims, " Behold, I make all things new ! " 
It is not that he makes all new things ; but makes old 
things new. It is not extinction, but renovation of 
the old earth. 

A7id he said unto me. Write. Having seen and heard 



276 THE APOCALYPSE. 

the foregoing description and announcements, God 
himself commands his servant to write, because the 
words are literally true and faithful. They are not 
sj^mbolical representations and descriptions of some- 
thing entirely different, but the exact thing seen and 
stated. 

Verses 6-8. " And he said unto me, It is done. I 
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. 
I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of 
the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall 
inherit all things ; and I will be his God, and he shall 
be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the 
abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and 
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their 
part in the lake which burneth with fire and brim- 
stone ; which is the second death.'' 

The Alpha and Omega, to whom the inheritance of 
all things is given, here proclaims the destiny of the 
human race, the saint and the sinner. " I will give 
to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of 
life freely.'' 

The overcomers. '^ He that overcometh shall in- 
herit all things," as already described in the pre- 
ceding verses. '' I will be his God, and he shall be 
my son." 

But next comes the sad fate of the ungodly. It is 
their lot, that while the overcomers inherit all the 
afore-described glory in the new heaven and new 
earth, to " have their part in the lake which burneth 



CHAPTER XXI. 277 

with fire and brimstone ; which is the second death.'' 
If the first is literal, why not the last-named doom? 

Verse 9. " And there came unto me one of the seven 
angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last 
plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither.; I 
will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." 

The promise of this angel to show John ^^ the bride, 
the Lamb's wife," was fulfilled by showing him the 
New Jerusalem in her glory, with her bridegroom 
king, and all her blessed inhabitants. We have a 
description of this city, Jerusalem, which is above, and 
is free, and is the mother of us all, in the fifty-fourth 
chapter of Isaiah. There she is told of her perpetual 
peace and security ; and to her it is said, ^' Thy maker 
is thy husband ; the God of the whole eartli shall he 
be called." 

Fer<5e5 J 0-14. "And- he carried me away in the 
spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me 
that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out 
of heaven from God, having the glory of God : and 
her light was like unto a stone most precious, even 
like a jasper stone, clear as crystal ; and had a wall 
great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the 
gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which 
are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of 
Israel: on the east three gates; on the north three 
gates ; on the south three gates ; and on the west 
three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve 
foundations, and in them the names of the twelve 
apostles of the Lamb." 



278 THE APOCALYPSE. 

When the harlot of chapter seventeen was to be 
exhibited, John was called by the same angel, or one 
of his fellows, who had the seven last plagues, and 
he carried him " in spirit into the wilderness.'' Now, 
when the bride of the Lamb is to be seen, it is not 
the wilderness into which he is carried in sjpiritj but 
to a great and high mountain, where nothing should 
obstruct the sight, and showed that great city, the 
holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven. This 
city is the bride of the Lamb ; the saints, their 
children. (See Isa. liv. 5, 11-14.) No language can 
be more glowing, or present the picture of the city in 
more living beauty, than that which the Spirit has used. 
Her glory, God's glory. The rarest and most pre- 
cious stones illustrate her radiant splendor. Her 
gates are twelve solid pearls ; an angel porter keeps 
each gate, on each of which is inscribed the name of 
one of Israel's tribes. 

The walls of the city rest on a twelvefold founda- 
tion, and each separate tier of foundation stones is 
garnished with precious gems ; and inscribed on each 
foundation are the names of one of the twelve apostles. 

Verses 15-18. ^' And he that talked with me had a 
golden reed to measure the city, and the gates there- 
of, and the wall thereof And the city lieth four- 
square, and the length is as large as the breadth : and 
he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand 
furlongs. The length, and the breadth, and the bight- 



CHAPTER XXI. 279 

of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, a 
hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the 
measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And the 
building of the wall of it was of jasper : and the city 
was pure gold, like unto clear glass.'*^ 

The angelic measurement of the city is given by the 
seer, as he saw it measured with the golden reed. Its 
form is a square. Its four sides are equal. Its dimen- 
sions are twelve thousand furlongs. This is, in all 
probability, its entire circumference ; so that the 
diameter would be three hundred and seventy-five 
miles. Exceptions have been taken to this as a literal 
description of a city, because of the disproportionate 
form. ^^ The length, breadth, and the higlit of it are 
equal.'' Now, say the objectors, a city fifteen hundred 
miles long, and fifteen hundred miles wide, or three 
hundred and seventy-five miles long, wide, and high, 
would be such a monstrosity that the earth would be 
thrown from its orbit, and God would be under the 
necessity of performing a perpetual miracle in order 
to preserve its balance. But the difficulty is easily 
removed. ^^ The length, breadth, and hight of it are 
proportionate,^^ rather than eqical. We are told ex- 
pressly that the wall is ^^ one hundred and forty and 
four cubits/^ or two hundred and twelve feet. This 
would be an agreement of proportion for the hight, 
rather than a hight equal to its length and breadth. 
On the whole, then, it is likely that the city is three 



280 THE APOCALYPSE. 

hundred and seventy-five miles square, and two hun- 
dred and twelve feet high, thus presenting a* sym- 
metrical appearance, an agreement of length, breadth, 
and hight. loog^ rendered equal, is also used for 
agreement (Mark xiv. 56, 59.) 

While the twelve foundations were garnished with 
all manner of precious stones, and one of them was 
garnished with jasper, the wall itself was built of 
jasper alone. The city itself, that is, its buildings, 
were pure gold, like unto clear glass. It is such gold 
as mortal eyes have never yet beheld. The founda- 
tions of the wall are thus described. Truly, the gold 
of that city is good. 

Verses 19, 20. " And the foundations of the wall of 
the city we7^e garnished with all manner of precious 
stones. The first foundation teas jasper ; the second, 
sapphire ; the third, a chalcedony ; the fourth, an 
emerald ; the fifth, sardonyx ; the sixth, sardius ; the 
seventh, chrysolite ; the eighth, beryl ; the ninth, a 
topaz ; the tenth, a chrysoprasus ; the eleventh, a 
jacinth ; the twelfth, an amethyst.'^ 

The gates and streets are described as of surprising 
beauty, as we read in 

Verse 21. ** And the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; 
every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of 
the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.^' 

The absence of a temple in this city is a striking 
characteristic, showing that God will be worshiped in 



CHAPTER XXT. 281 

himself; ^^ as God now dwells in the spiritual church, 
his temple (Gr. naos^ shrine ; 1 Cor. iii. 17 ; vi. 19)^ so 
the church, when perfected, shall dwell in him as her 
^temple' {naos, the same Gr.). As the church was 
' his sanctuary ' (Ps. cxiv. 2), so he is to be their 
sanctuary. (Ez. xi. 16.) Means of grace shall cease 
when the end of grace is come. Church ordinances 
shall give place to the God of ordinances. Uninter- 
rupted, immediate, direct communion with him and 
the Lamb shall supersede intervening ordinances.^' — 
Fausett, 

Verses 22, 23. '^ And I saw no temple therein : for 
the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple 
of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither 
of the moon, to shine in it : for the glory of God did 
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.^^ 

So luminous will be the glory of God in the holy 
city, that the light of the sun will pale before it, as do 
the stars when the king of day rises above the hori- 
zon ; or as the sun of midday did when Christ ap- 
peared to Saul of Tarsus, on his way to Damascus, 
The glory of God and the Lamb there will be one per- 
petual unbroken day. But this is not said of the 
earth in general. For while it continues, day and 
night shall not cease. 

Verse 24. ^^ And the nations of them which are 
saved shall walk in the light of it : and the kings of the 
earth do bring their glory and honor into it.'' 



282 . THE APOCALYPSE. 

^flie nations of them that are saved. It has been 
argued from this phrase, that nations in the flesh, 
heathen nations, who never had the gospel, will be 
saved in the day of wrath, and repeople the earth 
after the saints shall have been removed from it to 
heaven, their everlasting home. As to that, it would 
seem that there will be no such nations then; for 
before the end comes " the gospel must first be 
preached among all nations.'' (Mark xiii. 10.) 

Then, again, it is not saved nations j who shall walk, 
in the light of the holy city, but " nations of them,'' 
that is, composed of them *^ that are saved.'' When. 
the Lord writeth up the people, makes his registra- 
tion — he will count that — "this man was born there ; " 
^^and of Zion it will be said, this and that man was 
born in her." So the saints will be divided off into 
nationalities, according as the Lord shall see fit to ap- 
portion them ; and each nation will have its king 
nnder the King of kings. The very idea of such a 
title implies kings in his empire. These kings and 
nations will bring their choicest gifts and treasures, 
and lay them at Immanuel's feet, just as all the kings 
of the earth did in the days of Solomon, the son of 
David. (2 Chron. ix. 22-24.) 

Thus " his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and 
from the river to the ends of the earth." " All kings 
shall bow down before him, and all nations shall 
serve him." Not in a temporal millennium, wherein, if 



CHAPTER XXII. 283 

established, ^^ flesh and blood '^ will " inherit the king- 
dom of God," but in a state of immortality and ever- 
lasting blessedness, as we have endeavored to set 
forth. This is illustrated in the closing verses of the 
chapter.* 

Verses 25-27. " And the gates of it shall not be 
shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 
And they shall bring the glory and honor of the 
nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into 
it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh 
abomination, or maketh a lie : but they which are 
written in the Lamb's book of life.'^ 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The River and Tree of Life. 

Verses 1-3. '^ And he showed me a pure river of 
water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the 
throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the 
street of it, and on either side of the river, tvas there 
the tree of Jife, which bare twelve manner of fruits, 
and yielded her fruit every month : and the leaves of 
the tree were for the healing of the nations. And 
there shall be no more curse : but the throne of God 
and of the Lamb shall be in it ; and his servants shall 
serve him : '' 

In the new-made earth, at sight of which " the 
morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God 
shouted for joy,'' *^ the Lord God planted a garden 
eastward in Eden, and there he placed the man whom 



284 THE APOCALYPSE. 

lie had formed.'' In the midst of the garden he 
planted two trees — the tree of life and the tree of 
'knowledge of good and evil. That tree of life was 
to conserve life, so that even in sin it was needful 
that man should be kept from it lest he should eat and 
live for ever. To prevent this, man was driven from 
the garden to till the earth for a livelihood; for the 
ground was cursed for his sake. So far as we know, 
that tree of life has been seen by no human eye since 
Adam left the garden. That garden, the Septuagint, 
the Greek translation of the old Testament, always 
renders paradise. That paradise Christ speaks of in 
his letter to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus, as 
having in the midst of it still " the tree of hfe." ^' I 
will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the 
midst of the paradise of God." We find it again in 
the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem, then, is 
" the paradise of God." The fifty-fourth chapter of 
Isaiah speaks of that garden as forsaken for a small 
moment, but with everlasting mercies restored. It is 
not unreasonable, in the light of that chapter, to sup- 
pose that where the garden of Eden was, the New 
Jerusalem will be. Out of that garden went a river. 
^^ And he," the angel who promised to show him the 
bride, the Lamb's wife, '' showed me a pure river of 
water of life." 

The river and tree are again associated. In the midst 
of the street and of the river, tvz^v&tv xai evTev^tv, 



CHAPTER XXII. 285 

" hither and hither , the tree of life/^ That is, the 
river meanders along the side of the street; and in 
the midst, between the street and river, the tree of 
life grows, bearing monthly fruit. 

Earth, made new, shall have its paradise restored 
with its " tree of life '^ and " river '^ in the midst, ac- 
cessible to all its blessed citizens. What will be the 
need of healing leaves where no sorrow, pain, or death 
can enter, it is not easy to understand. The Greek 
theropia is defined, service, aid, help, attendance, and 
by implication^ relief, healing, cure. The most easy and 
natural rendering of the word, here, would be — ser- 
vice, '' The leaves of the tree were for the service 
of the nations.'^ What service, that day will reveal. 

When Adam sinned, God said to him, ^' Cursed is the 
ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it," 
&c. " Thorns, briers, and thistles shall it bring forth 
unto thee." This shall be known no more. Toil and 
sweat to attain sustenance will be at an end. What 
the service shall be which the saints will render their 
Lord in the holy city, is another thing we may not 
fully understand. One service will be holy worship 
and adoration, as with the palm-bearers of Revelation, 
seventh chapter. They shall see God's face, and '^ his 
name be on their foreheads." Thus all are sealed. 



Verses 4, 5. " And they shall see his face ; and his 
name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be 



286 THE APOCALYPSE. 

no night there ; and they need no candle, neither h'ght 
of the sun ; for the Lord God giveth them light : and 
.they shall reign for ever and ever.^' 

They shall reign for ever arid ever. Such is the 
duration of Christ's reign as given Dan. vii. 13, 14 ; 
Luke i. 30-33 ; Rev. xi. 15, 16. So, also, is it the 
period allotted to the Sdiiits of the Most High. (Dan. 
vii. 18,27.) 

There is to be a sort of preparatory reign of a thou- 
sand years before the final execution of judgment on 
the wicked ; but that event shall not terminate their 
reign in a state of glorious immortality, with Christ 
their living head. 

It is with this assurance of an everlasting reign the 
Apocalyptic visions close. What remains of the book, 
from verse six. to the end, is general instruction and 
admonition. The general declaration of the angel 
who showed these things to John, one of the seven 
angels, is as in 

Verse 6. '^ And he said unto me. These sayings are 
faithful and true : and the Lord God of the holy 
prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the 
things which must shortly be done." 

Could we be assured more plainly than in these 
w^ords that what he had showed and told to John were 
true and faithful words ? Then let us receive them as 
such, and believe that '^ the Lord God of the spirits of 



CHAPTER XXII. 287 

the prophets sent his angel/^ a fellow-servant of John^ 
'* to show unto his servants things which must shortly 
be done '^ — en tachei, clone ivitJi celerity, as it was prom- 
ised in Ch. i. 1. As then promised it had been done. 

Verses 1-\0. ^* Behold, I come quickly: blessed 25 
he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this 
bo6k. And I John 'saw these things^ and heard them. 
And when I had heard and seen^ I fell down to wor- 
ship before the feet of the angel which showed me 
these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it 
not : for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren 
the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of 
this book: worship God. And he saith unto me, Seal 
not the sayings of the prophecy of this book : for the 
time is at hand.^^ 

The inclination to worship the revealing angel still 
pressed upon the seer, so that again he fell at his feet 
to worship him, and was again positively forbidden to 
do it. And again the angel declared himself to be 
John's fellow-servant, and the fellow-servant of the 
prophets. That the New Jerusalem will be a literal 
city as is here described we firmly believe. Abraham 
looked for it ; and it is promised to the overcomers, 
(Heb. xi. 10, 16 ; Rev. iii. 12.) 

Those who insist that the Apocalypse is a sealed 
book will do well to consider the tenth verse, where 
John was positively instructed not to seal the sayings 
of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 
And those who have carefully read the foregoing 



288 THE APOCALYPSE. 

pages and kept the connection and bearings of the 
various parts will be constrained to the conclusion 
that the book is as plain as any unfulfilled prophecy 
can well be. 

Verse 11. ^' He- that is unjust, let him be unjust 
still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and 
he that is righteous, let him be righteous still : and he 
that is holy, let him be holy still.'' 

When the ^' mystery of God is finished,'' this will be 
true, for that will be when the seventh angel sounds, 
*^ and the time of the dead " comes ^^ that they should 
be judged." Then the Master of the house will have 
shut the door, and all calls for entrance will be vain. 
If mercy is ever found, it must be before that day. 

Verses 12, 13. '^ And, behold, I come quickly ; and 
my reward is with me, to give every man according 
as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the be- 
ginning and the end, the first and the last." 

Still the Lord declares the suddenness of his com- 
ing to bring his reward for every one. For, as before 
remarked, tacJm signifies suddenly, as well as quickly. 

Verses 14:, 15. "Blessed are they that do his com- 
mandments, that they may have right to the tree of 
life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whore- 
mongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever 
loveth and maketh a lie." 



CHAPTER XXII. 289 

The fate of both saints and sinners is here set forth : 
the former in the cit}^, the latter outside, with no 
possibility of entering within the walls. 

Vej'se 16. ^^ I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify 
unto you these things in the churches. I am the root 
and the offspring of David, and the bright and morn- 
ing star.'' 

Jesus here declares that he, as the revealer, sent his 
angel to testify these things. It is therefore the 
Apocalypse of things^ rather than his person, as the 
whole book shows. He is the root from which David 
sprang, and therefore David's Lord. He is also his 
offspring according to the flesh, and therefore sole heir 
to his throne ; and God will give it him according to his 
frequent promise. The morning star is early rising, 
and bright. Jesus first rose from the dead to im- 
mortality and glory, the harbinger of endless day. 

Verse 17. ^' And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. 
And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him 
that is athirst come : and whosoever w^ill, let him take 
the water of life freely." 

This invitation is sometimes interpreted as the call 
of the Spirit and church for Christ to come. But 
evidently the invitation is to come to the water of life, 
" whosoever will." It is parallel with Isa. Iv,, and 
of the same import. 

Verses 18, 19. '^ For I testify unto every man that 
19 



290 THE APOCALYPSE. 

liearetli the words of the prophecy of this book, If any 
man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto 
him the plagues that are written in this book : and if 
any man shall take away from the words of the book 
of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of 
the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the 
things which are written in this book.'' 

The fearful maledictions of these verses on those 
who take from or add to the words of this book have 
constantly influenced the author in the preparation of 
these pages ; and he has sought in each verse and 
word to indicate the exact mind of the Spirit as 
expressed in his own words; nor dare he do other- 
Avise. 

Verses 20, 21. "He which testifieth these things 
saith. Surely I come quickly ; Amen. Even so, come, 
Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 
with you all. Amen.'' 

The book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. He is 
the testifier of these things, and not the testified^ or 
manifested. And again, he testifies of himself, " I 
come suddenly,''^ This is the import of all the New 
Testament representations of his coming. " As a 
thief" '' When ye think not." " As the lightning," 
&c. All these expressions indicate suddenness rather 
than soon after the warning. Thus, as the Old Testa- 
ment closes w^ith a curse, the New Testament closes 
with a BENEDICTION. "The grace of our Lord Jesus 



CHAPTER XXII. 291 

Christ be with you all/^ ^^Amen^^ — the confirming 
closing word : so it shall be. 

The seer adds, — and let us all live in a spirit to join 
with him and say, — ^^ Even so come, Lord Jesus/' 
The end of pain, sorrow, and death, the beginning of 
all blessedness, the eternal union of all the good in his 
presence and glory — who that believes it can but join 
the apostolic prayer ? 

There is no book in the Bible so commended to us 
as the Apocalypse. In the seven letters, seven times 
does Jesus repeat concerning this book, " He that 
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
churches.'^ It opens with a blessing on the reader 
and hearer of the words. The visions close with the 
assurance that " these sayings are faithful and true/' 
" These words are true and faithful/^ An awful guard 
is placed to defend its integrity, by denouncing the 
most terrible penalty on any who add to or take from 
these words. 

In the spirit of all these words this work has been 
prepared, in the belief that there is not a more literal 
book in all the sacred volume. Interpreted on this 
principle, the harmony is complete, and a child can 
understand its import. All attempt to interpret it on 
any other principle makes confusion w^orse confounded. 
According to the obvious import of the Apocalypse, 
terrible scenes await this world, and we all need a 



292 THE APOCALYPSE. 

place of refuge, which can only be found in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. To him let us flee, and trusting his word, 
hope to ^^ escape all these things which shall come to 
pass, and to stand before the Son of Man '^ in peace. 

With much prayer this work has been prepared, 
and in the same spirit it is now sent forth on its mis- 
sion of calling attention to these solemn truths, and 
opening the way for the sincere inquirer to under- 
stand ^^ what the Spirit saith to the churches ; '' firmly 
believing the book to bo what its title indicates, " A 
Complete Harmony of Daniel and the Apocalypse.'' 

The work follows the principles of interpretation 
adopted by the primitive church. The year-day theory 
is as positive an innovation on the faith of the early 
fathers from the days of the 'apostles downward 
for hundreds of years, as the doctrine of the world's 
conversion and temporal millennium, and is part and 
parcel of that theory. If it be said that we have more 
light now than they had, the ready answer is, that 
while Daniel's predictions were sealed up till the time 
of the end, it is not true of the Apocalypse. ^^ Seal 
not the sayings of this book," was the command of 
Christ to the seer ; and so it has ever remained open, 
with the reiterated injunction, ^^ He that hath an ear, 
let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches." 
*^ Blessed is he that readeth," has been ever true. 
The obvious and literal is the true reading of the book. 
And all that is symbolical is either called a sign^ or 



CHAPTER XXIV. 293 

the symbol is interpreted by divine authority. In all 
other cases John was shown the '^ things which must 
come to pass/' All divinely authorized interpreta- 
tions are literal and final, and need no amendment. 
And for an interpreter to assume to be wiser than 
God, so that when he declares the ^^ great dragon '' to 
be *Hhat old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan/' it 
savors much of both adding to and taking from these 
words to say it is a mistake, it represents the Roman 
empire. And when the angel says (Rev. xvii.), ^' I will 
show thee the mystery of the w^oman,'' &g. ; she " is 
that great city which reign eth over the kings of the 
earth ; '' it is rather assuming for puny man to say 
that is a mistake; she is the Roman hierarchy, or 
church of Rome. ^^ Let God be true, and every man 
a liar.'' His word will stand, whatever becomes of 
our interpretations. 



THE TWENTY-FOURTH OF MATTHEW. 

The elements for the interpretation of this important 
chapter are embodied in the foregoing Harmony ; but 
that the reader may have the import of it concisely 
before him, we give a synopsis by itself. 

The three questions proposed by the disciples, 
^' When shall these things be ? and what shall be the 
sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ? were 



294 MATTHEW. 

in their minds connected together as occurring at one 
period. Christ did not correct the impression. Did 
they think rightly ? Can that prediction, There shall 
not be one stone of the temple left on another which 
shall not be thrown down, have been fulfilled, while, 
as recent research proves, a wall of the temple eighty 
or ninety feet high still remains? Will it be likely 
ever to fall until the coming of Christ ? Probably not. 
The end of the aioon — age, or world — is the same as 
in Matt. xiii. 39, " the harvest is the end of the world ; '' 
and as in Matt, xxviii. 20, " Lo, I am with you always, 
even to the end of the world. ^^ This all evangelical 
Christians understand will occur in connection with 
the second advent. 

Christ taught them, first, what would not be the 
sign of his coming. 1. Many saying, 1 am Christ, 
deceiving many. 2. Wars and rumors of wars. "But 
the end is not yet." 3. Famines, pestilence, and 
earthquakes in divers places. These are the be- 
ginning of the '^ pangs," or " sorrows," of travail. 
These are what we are now witnessing on a large 
scale. 4. Great persecutions of the saints. These 
have culminated in the slaughter of seventy or eighty 
millions, since Christ. 5. Iniquity shall abound. This 
we see everywhere. 6. " This gospel of the kingdom 
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto 
all nations.^' And so it is going forth in a manner un- 
known in former times, even to the ends of the earth. 



CHAPTER XXTV, 295 

This is an unmistakable sign of the nearness of the end, 
for when this is done, ^^ then shall the end come/' This 
is the firsl: positive sign of the end given in the chapter. 
Verses ^5-28 refer to the abomination of desola- 
tion spoken of by Daniel the prophet, and the con- 
sequent tribulation. The connecting word thereforej — 
.^^ when ye therefore shall see the abomination of des- 
olation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the 
holy place,'^ — connects verse fifteen with verse four- 
teen, and the end of the world. They belong to one age. 
If we turn to Daniel xi. 31, to find what he said of 
this abomination, we find that it supplants the daily 
temple service of the Jews, and is placed in the tem- 
ple, or sanctuary, by the last king who reigns in the 
north, the east, and in the glorious holy mountain, Zion 
— the king who reigns at .the time of the end, and who 
shall come to his end, and none shall help him ; the 
king whose reign is cotemporary with the standing 
up of Michael. That abomination is a god whom 
he — this king, — "shall acknowledge and increase with 
glory.'' If he reigns in the glorious land, and sets his 
palace on Mount Zion, as the Word declares he will, 
why not his god be IN the temple ON Mount Moriah? 
There is no ground, comparing Matt. xxiv. 15 and 
Dan. xi., for calling the ahomination of desolation 
the Roman ensigns placed in the temple by Titus, 
A. D. 70. For the temple was burnt as soon as Titus 
took the city. But both in and around the city these 



296 MATTHEW. 

ensigns had floated foi' years, and did so when Christ 
uttered the prediction: that was nothing new, nor did 
the Jews regard it ; for they preferred Csesar to Jesus. 
But this abomination is to be in the holy^lace — in 
the temple. 

It is agreed among all expositors that Daniel ix. 27, 
is referred to in this text. The Septuagint^ from which 
Christ read and quoted, reads, ^' And upon the tem- 
ple there shall be an abomination of the desolations.'' 
Christ's use of nearly the identical words confirms the 
correctness of the Septuagint translation. 

Dan. ix. 26 predicts the overthrow of Jerusalem 
by the Romans, under Titus, after the death of Christ ; 
and the continued desolation to the close of ^* the 
times of the Gentiles," or " end of the war.'' It was 
to this Christ referred when he said, " And when ye 
shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then 
know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let 
them which are in Judea flee to the mountains," &c. 
The disciples did observe this sign and flee, and were 
saved. But they fled before the siege of Jerusalem, 
and while the Roman army was w^ithdrawn. But the 
sign here referred to — the abomination of desola- 
tion — is to be IN the holy place, not compassing the 
city. It is foretold Dan. ix. 27, not ix. 26. The 
two are distinct signals — and at different times — the 
former at Jerusalem's destruction, A. D. 70 ; the other 
under the last earthly king, described by Daniel the 



CHAPTER XXIV. 297 

prophet. The Christians of Jerusalem and Judea are 
to do, under this sign, what those of the same country 
did eighteen hundred years ago — " flee,^' when they 
see it. Then they had time to go deliberately, and no 
great haste was enjoined on them. For they had 
months, from the time Vespasian retired from Judea 
before Titus returned. But in Matthew it is different. 
The haste is so great, that those who would escape 
must stop for nothing, but flee with the utmost speed. 
If any is on the house-top, he is not to come down, but 
flee to the* wall over the conjoined roofs. If he is iu 
the field^ he is not to go back for his clothes. Such 
are the points of difference between the two events 
and the two flights. Then they can not be identical 
as usually understood. 

The great tribulation of Matthew and the time of 
trouble of Daniel are identical, and are produced by 
one cause — the doings of the king whose ^^ arms ^' 
take away the daily sacrifice, and " place the abomina- 
tion Avhich maketh desolate.'' The time of the tribu- 
lation, for the sake of the elect, shall be short that 
they may not all fall as martyrs. The appointed time 
is twelve hundred and ninety days. (Dan. xii. 11.) It 
may be that those days will be cut short, for the sake 
of the elect, and be less. 

Verse 29. " Immediately after the tribulation of 
those days.*' There is not to be a century, nor half a 
one, from their ending before the signs here given 



298 MATTHEW. 

shall come. These are the events of the sixth seal 
(Rev. vi. 12-17) ; and the appearing of the judgment 
throne is the " sign of the Son of Man in heaven/^ and 
all these immediately follow the close of the great 
tribulation. The saints will then know their position, 
as it is written (Dan. xii. 10, 11), " Many shall be puri- 
fied and made white and tried. ^' This is by the great 
tribulation. ^^ But the wicked shall do wickedly'' 
during this time of trial. '^ And none of the wicked 
shall understand, but the wise shall understand.'' 
And the appearance of the sign to close the tribula- 
tion is what will give them light on the subject, and 
break the seal placed on the book of Daniel. The 
thirteen hundred and thirty-five days of Dan. xii. 12 
constitute the period to elapse from the sign of the 
Son of Man to the time when '^ they shall see the Son 
of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with powder 
and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a 
great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather to- 
gether his elect from the four winds, from the one 
end of heaven to the other." Then will Daniel and 
all the saints stand in their lot. 

ANTicnmsT. 

The characteristics of Antichrist are given by John 
in his First Epistle (1 John ii. 22) : " Who is a liar, but 
he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ ? He is Anti- 
christ that denieth the Father and the Son." 



CHAPTER XXIV. 299 

This is his first characteristic. It was in reference 
to this that Jesus said to the Jews. " I am come in my 
Father's namCj and ye receive me not/' that is, as the 
Christ. '^ If another shall come in his own name/' 
denying the Father and Son, ^^ him ye will recieve/' 
that is, as the Christ. Such a one will certainly 
come and be thus received by the Jews as their 
Christ. 

The church of Rome and all her popes, from the 
beginning, have confessed, " I believe in God the 
Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth ; and in 
his only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.'' Then they are 
not Antichrist, and can not be. It is true that the 
pope claims to be God's vicegerent on earth, and God 
on earth in the sense of a vicegerent, and also 
Christ's vicar. But both vicar and vicegerent imply 
the existence and supremacy of those whom they rep- 
resent, and is a confession of subordination. 

John's next characteristic of Antichrist is found 
Ch. iv. 3 : " And every spirit that confesseth not that 
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God ; and 
this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard 
that it shall come, and even now already is it in the 
world." The spirit of Antichrist is the Jewish spirit, 
which confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the 
flesh. It existed then, and exists now, and will result 
in the acceptance of another. 

The third characteristic is found 2 John via. : '^ For 
many deceivers are entered into the world, who con^ 



300 MATTHEW. 

fess not Jesus Christ ~ erJwmenoii — coming in the 
flesh. This is a deceiver and an Antichrist." Then the 
Antichrist will not confess that Jesus Christ is coining 
in flesh. The world is now full of that spirit. Not- 
withstanding it is written that his flesh did not see 
corruption, and that he showed his fleshly body to his 
disciples, and said, ^^ Handle me and see, for a spirit 
has not flesh and bones as ye see me have/' still 
many bearing the Christian name deny that he now 
exists in flesh, or will come again in flesh. Are they 
Antichrist? But it is not either the popes or church 
of Rome who fail to confess him as coming in the 
flesh to judge the living and dead. But there is an 
apostasy foretold by Paul (1 Thess. ii.), which is to 
precede the revelation of the man of sin, and the 
second advent, which will deny the Father and the 
Son; and springing out of this apostasy will grow that 
man of sin, that wicked, and exalt himself above all 
that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he, as 
God, sitteth in the temple of God (in Jerusalem), 
showing himself that he is God. He is the one who 
will come in his own name, and be received by that 
people whose fathers rejected Jesus, saying, " We 
have no king but Cassar.'^ He will deny the Father 
and the Son. He is to be the ruling power of the 
world at the second advent of Christ, " whom the 
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and 
destroy by the brightness of hiajCj^nrng.'^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ 
willful king. (Dan. xi. 36.) V « ^ -^ 










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